by Andy Goodwin

Road safety campaigners have slammed Government plans to use the hard shoulder as an extra motorway lane.

They say the scheme, revealed by a national newspaper, could mean more deaths on the road as emergency service vehicles would struggle to attend accidents.

A spokeswoman for road safety charity Brake said: “A few minutes’ delay can make the difference between life and death for a person who is critically injured.”

The scheme named ‘hard-shoulder running’ was leaked to the newspaper in a copy of Downing Street announcements.

It proposes that the initiative could be rolled out over 2,000 miles of motorway, in an attempt to relieve congestion.

Brake spokeswoman Cathy Keeler, further said: “In a traffic jam paramedics can currently use the hard shoulder to jump queues in order to reach crash sites in the shortest possible time.

“In the event of all lanes, including the hard shoulder, being blocked, how will they get through?”

Officials plan to offset the fears of delays to the emergency services, and the risk of pile-ups by providing motorists with ‘safe haven’ areas and electronic displays, warning of accidents and providing simple advice to motorists.

The use of the hard shoulder has been piloted on the M42 near Birmingham and has been widely viewed as a success. 

A Government source said: “The Government regards this hard shoulder plan as a way of helping a limited amount of cash go a long way.”