What are smart motorways and are they safe?

Plans to get rid of hard shoulders have heightened motorway safety fears but the government is determined to press ahead

For the most part, in the UK, this simply means a motorway without a hard shoulder, allowing traffic to utilise the additional lane. There are two main types: all-lane running, where the hard shoulder has been permanently converted to become the inside lane, and dynamic, where it is only used by moving traffic at certain times. All have overhead electronic signs to signal emergency lane closures and reduced speed limits to manage congestion.