Stopped vehicle detection upgrades

What's happening

We're upgrading motorways across the country with enhanced stopped vehicle detection. Every motorway where the hard shoulder has been converted to a permanent running lane will have the new radar-based technology by March 2023.

This new stopped vehicle detection will complement the existing systems that work together to keep journeys on motorways safe. Already, motorways have a system called MIDAS (Motorway Incident Detection and Automatic Signalling) which uses sensors to monitor traffic volumes and automatically set signs and signals as the motorway becomes more congested. This is just one of a system of technology enhancements, which also includes Red X signs, CCTV, enforcement cameras and roadside telephones in emergency areas, that are built into upgraded motorways as standard and which are there to ensure motorways without a hard shoulder are as safe as, or safer than, conventional ones.

We are now further strengthening the monitoring of these upgraded motorways by installing enhanced stopped vehicle detection across the network of motorways without hard shoulders. 

How it works

We will be installing new radar units at the side of the road to monitor the motorway in both directions,  detecting any vehicles that have stopped.

The advantage of this new system is it is specifically designed to detect a stationary vehicle, typically in 20 seconds, and alert a control room operator who can see the incident on camera, close lanes and dispatch an on-road Highways England traffic officer to attend to the stopped vehicle.

Using stopped vehicle detection means that there is a significant reduction in time taken for the control room operators to be notified of problems, to verify the presence of stationary vehicles and get help deployed more quickly.

About our roadworks

The vast majority of this upgrade work can be carried out overnight using temporary lane closures, with all restrictions removed during the day. We may need to cut back some vegetation to ensure the radar units can see the road, but we will keep this to a minimum and we don’t expect to have to remove any mature trees. Toward the end of the upgrade at each location, we will need to close the road overnight for testing and commissioning work. There will be clearly signed diversions in place and, again, we will remove all restrictions during the day.

Before we start work at any location, we will write to people who live near the motorway and to local representatives like councillors and MPs.

Our programme

We will be delivering these upgrades in phases, and all upgrades will be complete for March 2023.

Find out more

Email our project team directly at stoppedvehicledetection@highwaysengland.co.uk