Department For Transport In Reflective Mode On New Road-related Technologies?

This morning's response from the government to the Transport Select Committee's report on smart motorways is, in essence, that DfT accepts the MPs recommendations in full and will pause the further roll out of smart motorways (i.e. all lanes running with no hard shoulders) in order to collect and better evaluate safety-related data.

Although it would be a little unfair to characterise the response (linked in this DfT press release) as a change in direction, it could be taken to represent a more subtle shift in the DfT's approach, perhaps indicating any ultimate regulatory choices will be driven to a greater extent by rich empirical data rather than by political enthusiasm for any particular technology's perceived benefits.