New radars launched today (Wednesday) on the M62 Smart Motorway will detect stuck drivers within 20 seconds of a breakdown or accident, say highways bosses. The ‘Stopped Vehicle Detection’ units are 'going live' between junction 10 at the Croft interchange and junction 12 at the Eccles interchange, a section which uses the hard shoulder as a live lane.
It's claimed the new technology will detect stopped vehicles 21 times faster than the previous average of seven minutes. They will be used as well as the existing signage, CCTV and sensors which monitor traffic volumes and detect congestion. The move comes after a series of Manchester Evening News articles highlighted a number of signal and sign glitches which were left broken for weeks amid questions from highway patrol officers over the safety of smart motorways, particularly on sections like this where there is no hard shoulder.
However, Duncan Smith, National Highways executive director for operations, told the Manchester Evening that the new technology, the first of its kind to be rolled out in the North West as part of a nationwide programme to retrofit sections like this due to be completed by September, will strengthen what is already ‘the most technologically advanced road system in the world’.
