A £2.1 million network of electronic detectors and warning signs is being installed in a bid to cut accidents on West Yorkshire motorways.

The Motorway Incident Detection and Automatic Signalling System - MIDAS for short - uses state of the art technology to warn drivers of slow moving or standing traffic ahead.

In 1999 there were 495 injury accidents on West Yorkshire motorways, a small fall on the previous year's toll of 503.

A West Yorkshire police spokesman said: "We welcome anything that is going to improve safety on the motorway."

MIDAS will be installed on two of the busiest stretches of motorway in the county, between Huddersfield and Tingley and the M62 and Wakefield and Lofthouse on the M1.

It is the first time the system has been used on roads in the Yorkshire and Humber region.

MIDAS involves a network of sensors which are able to detect when traffic which should be moving freely is crawling or at a standstill.

The information is instantly transmitted to electronic network signs in the central reservation which displays advisory speed limits.

"The MIDAS system is designed to reduce secondary accidents caused by vehicles running into the back of stationary traffic," said Highways Agency project manager Gary Porteous.

"It has proved effective in other areas and we are confident that it will prove a valuable addition to our existing road safety measures on the M62 and M1."

Work on installing the cables began on Monday, January 10 and will take around seven months.

No major delays are expected during the work, which will involve a series of one-night slip road closures and occasional closures on the hard shoulder.

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