Millions of drivers were potentially put at risk during a terrifying near-national outage of life-saving technology on smart motorways.
The system controlling hundreds of miles of the controversial carriageways had to be rebooted following a 'glitch' that meant it was out of action for seven hours, including the evening rush hour.
Nearly three-quarters of the entire smart motorway system was affected, with National Highways control room staff unable to activate signs supposed to warn drivers within 20 seconds of a vehicle breaking down in a live lane.
The meltdown on Wednesday is thought to be one of the largest and longest on the carriageways.
It meant any stricken drivers would have become 'sitting ducks' on the 'all-lane running (ALR)' roads.
Millions of motorists used the roads during the blackout – unaware that they were driving on potential death traps.
And a whistleblower last night warned of more nationwide outages to come because the issue is not fully resolved. It will pile pressure on Rishi Sunak to deliver on the pledge he made to scrap smart motorways during the Tory leadership race this summer. It will also be a major test for new Transport Secretary Mark Harper.
How 280 miles of smart motorway were knocked out by a glitch
Tory MP Greg Smith, who sits on the Commons transport committee, said: 'This is yet more evidence that the technology that smart motorways are reliant on doesn't always work. It's a completely unacceptable position for motorists to be in....
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