The government is set to review the UK’s network of smart motorways after a BBC Panorama investigation revealed 38 people were killed on smart motorways in the last five years.

A Freedom of Information (FoI) request sent by Panorama to Highways England revealed that on one section of the M25, outside London, the number of near misses had risen 20-fold since the hard shoulder was removed in April 2014.

In the five years before the road was converted into a smart motorway there were just 72 near misses.

In the five years after, there were 1,485.

Related: AA no longer stopping on smart motorways to assist members over safety concerns

Transport secretary, Grant Shapps said: “We absolutely have to have these as safe or safer than regular motorways or we shouldn’t have them at all.”

The car detection system – which is currently only fitted on two sections of the M25 – can spot stranded vehicles as soon as drivers break down.

Nationally, motorists currently have to wait an average of 17 minutes to be spotted, and a further 17 minutes before they are rescued.

The BBC reports that a radar-based car detection system will be rolled out across all smart motorways over the next three years, automatically detecting stationary vehicles and triggering warning signs to alert drivers behind.

There are also calls to substantially increase the number of refuge areas on roads.

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