The UK government has announced the cancellation of all new smart motorway plans, citing safety concerns and financial pressures. The Department for Transport stated that 14 planned smart motorways, including 11 which had already been paused and three earmarked for construction, will be removed from the government’s road building plans. Smart motorways comprise approximately 10% of England’s motorway network and utilise technology to manage lanes in response to incidents and breakdowns, freeing up the emergency hard-shoulder lane for regular traffic use. However, safety concerns have been raised following fatal accidents involving broken-down vehicles. The DfT announced that the cancellation will allow more time to ascertain public confidence in smart motorways. Additionally, the cost of constructing future schemes was estimated at over £1bn. The construction of two smart motorway stretches will continue as they are already over 75% complete. Existing stretches will remain but undergo a safety revamp to include 150 additional emergency stopping places across the network.