Biggest breakdown hotspots revealed - and they're all smart motorways
National Highways data has uncovered the top 10 most common spots after breakdowns rose 12 percent year on year.
The worst area for motorway breakdowns was the M1 between junctions 14 and 15 where there were 1,787 incidents in 2023. That is nearly five every day.
In total there were 267,579 motorway breakdowns last year according to the figures. AA recorded a similar rise of 13 percent more breakdowns in 2023 compared to 2022 with both suggesting the cost of living crisis may be having an impact.
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A third of drivers are prepared to skip a scheduled service to save money, according to a survey last year for Volkswagen Financial Services. A quarter also said they drove their vehicle knowing it needed essential maintenance.
Worst motorway spots for breakdowns in 2023
Figures from National Highways, secured in a Freedom of Information Act request by MoneySupermarket found:
| Rank | Location | Number of incidents | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | M1 J14/15 | 1,787 | |
| 2 | M62 J11/12 | 1,766 | |
| 3 | M1 J15/14 | 1,752 | |
| 4 | M6 J15/14 | 1,595 | |
| 5 | M62 J12/11 | 1,522 | |
| 6 | M6 J14/15 | 1,501 | |
| 7 | M25 J5/6 | 1,451 | |
| 8 | M25 J25/24 | 1,447 | |
| 9 | M6 J19/18 | 1,371 | |
| 10 | M6 J18/19 | 1,364 |
Smart motorways use technology to improve the flow of traffic and ease congestion. This can be via variable speed limits and lane control systems, or by allowing drivers onto all lanes of the carriageway during busy periods. This means there is no hard shoulder for drivers to pull into if they break down.
Campaigners have questioned the safety of smart motorways with a BBC investigation finding the technology lost power 392 times between June 2022 and February 2024.
The RAC found 70 percent of drivers wanted the hard shoulder reinstating on smart motorways. Half of drivers avoided lane one of smart motorways for fear of encountering a broken down vehicle, RAC research suggested.
Last year the Government cancelled 14 planned smart motorways due to a lack of public confidence.
NimbleFins has previously researched how safe the UK's roads are and found there were just over 24,000 people seriously injured in road traffic accidents in 2022. Another 1,600 were killed.
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