Bridge blamed for smart motorway lane crash on M3

Smart motorway technology failed to notice a stopped lorry that caused a crash on the M3 last week because it was under a bridge, the head of National Highways has admitted.

A van ran into the back of the HGV on a stretch of the “all-lane running” smart motorway, five minutes after it became marooned on the inside lane near Lightwater, Surrey.

The lorry should have been picked up quickly by Stopped Vehicle Detection (SVD) radars and the lane closed with a red X on gantries.

Nick Harris, the chief executive of the government agency, said the crash was caused because the SVD failed to distinguish between the lorry and the bridge.

He insisted, however, that he had “absolute” faith in the technology.

“We’re very