Only 37 miles of UK's smart motorways have vital safety tech
Only 37 miles of UK’s smart motorways have vital safety tech to detect broken down vehicles – meaning rest of 500-mile network is still relying on CCTV operators spotting deadly risks
- System can spot cars in 20 seconds so lane can be closed and police notified
- Only been installed in four of 24 sections of motorway with no hard shoulder
- Transport secretary Grant Shapps wants all smart motorways to have it by 2023
Just 37 miles of smart motorway have been fitted with vital safety technology to rapidly detect broken-down vehicles, it emerged today.
The radar system, which can spot stationary cars in 20 seconds, has been installed on only four of the 24 sections of motorway in England with no hard shoulder.
This is despite Transport secretary Grant Shapps demanding its rapid rollout in March last year, which is meant to see the technology installed on all 500 miles of smart motorway in England by March 2023.
The issue gained added urgency this week after a coroner ruled that smart motorways were partly to blame for the deaths of two people and warned they presented an ‘ongoing risk of future deaths’.
Jason Mercer, 44, and Alexandru Murgeanu, 22, were struck by a lorry near Sheffield in June 2019, leading to a verdict of unlawful killing.
The ‘stopped vehicle detection’ system is far quicker at spotting stopped vehicles than human CCTV operators, allowing operators to shut the lane and inform emergency services.
There are currently more than 20 sections of ‘smart motorways’ on seven different motorways. Just 37 miles have been fitted with a ‘stopped vehicle detection system’
Sheffield coroner David Urpeth said the lack of a hard shoulder contributed to the deaths of Jason Mercer (pictured with his wife Claire) and Alexandru Murgeanu
NARGIS BEGUM
The grandmother, 62, died after her broken down car was hit on the M1 in South Yorkshire in 2018.
Mrs Begum was being driven by husband Mohammed Bashir, 67. They left their Nissan Qashqai to wait for help but another car hit the vehicle, sending it into her.
A pre-inquest review hearing in December was told that warning signs on the motorway had not been activated in time to stop drivers entering the lane where the couple had broken down.
A coroner is considering referring Highways England to the Crown Prosecution Service in what would be a landmark case.
DEV NARAN
The eight-year-old was killed on the M6 in Birmingham in 2018 after his family’s car became stranded on a hard shoulder being used as a live lane.
At the inquest into the youngster’s death, coroner Emma Brown expressed concerns about the ‘risk to life from the loss of the hard shoulder’.
After the inquest his mother Meera, from Leicester, said that without changes, she believes smart motorways ‘still continue to pose threats to lives on a daily basis’.
SEVIM AND AYSE USTUN
Sevim Ustun, 49, and mother-in-law Ayse Ustun, 68, died after their family car broke down on the M25 in Essex in 2018 and was struck by a lorry.
Overhead gantry signs did not close the lane or warn of a broken down vehicle. A ten-year-old girl also suffered life-changing injuries. Police were urged to prosecute Highways England for corporate manslaughter.
DEREK JACOBS
The retired engineer, 83, was killed after pulling up when his car had tyre problems on the M1 in north Derbyshire in 2019.
His Volkswagen Crafter van came to a halt in the first lane of the motorway, formerly the hard shoulder. It was hit by a Ford Ka, which was then struck by a coach.
His widow Sally said: ‘If there had been a hard shoulder, my husband would still be alive.’
Figures seen by The Times shows that only 13 miles of road, on the M3 in Surrey, has had the technology installed within the last 10 months.
It is already on place on 24 miles on the M25 and is due to be fitted on a section of the M20 in Kent this month.
It comes as road chiefs faced crisis talks with the Transport Secretary over the safety of smart motorways.
Mr Shapps is understood to be unimpressed with Highways England’s handling of the controversial roads.
Talks with Highways England’s acting chief executive, Nick Harris, and potentially other senior officials are expected to take place in the coming days.
It comes as the Daily Mail can reveal road chiefs were warned nearly ten years ago that smart motorways could lead to deaths and corporate manslaughter charges.
Minutes from a 2011 meeting reveal how a lawyer for the Department for Transport (DfT) raised concerns over converting hard shoulders into permanently live lanes of traffic.
Farah Japanwalla asked bosses at the Highways Agency, now Highways England, whether ‘corporate manslaughter had been considered as part of the design and the potential liability of the agency if a road user was killed due to operation of the network’.
However, the minutes indicate highways bosses pressed ahead because a computer simulator used to test drivers’ behaviour found it would be safe to do so.
The revelation comes after a coroner ruled on Monday that smart motorways present an ‘ongoing risk of future deaths’.
Delivering a verdict of unlawful killing, David Urpeth ruled that the lack of a hard shoulder contributed to the deaths of two drivers on the M1.
Mr Mercer’s widow Claire is a vocal campaigner against smart motorways. She said of the 2011 minutes: ‘It’s horrible.
This was years before my husband was killed.
‘If they had listened more to that warning he would still be here today. I think any individuals warned should face corporate manslaughter charges.
‘These roads are death traps.
‘Who would take such an important safety feature away [the hard shoulder] that had been part of our roads for such a long time?’
She also accused Mr Shapps of treating her husband’s death like a ‘PR exercise’ with one phone call before ministers announced a review into smart motorways.
Speaking to BBC Radio 5Live she said she believed Mr Shapps had ‘wanted me to basically agree everything and say that I was on board, and then they could parade me as the grieving widow that agreed with them’.
Road chiefs are facing crisis talks with the Transport Secretary over the safety of smart motorways, it emerged last night. Pictured: The scene of a fatal crash on the M1 near Sheffield that killed Mr Mercer and Mr Murgeanu
Mr Mercer (left, Claire) and Mr Murgeanu (right) died when a lorry ploughed into their stationary vehicles on the M1 near Sheffield on June 7, 2019
Grant Shapps is understood to be unimpressed with Highways England’s handling of the controversial roads, which a coroner has described as presenting an ‘ongoing risk of future deaths’
Mr Shapps ordered a ‘stock take’ of smart motorways in 2019.
Its findings last March included an 18-point package of measures ‘to improve safety and public confidence’.
A DfT spokesman said: ‘In light of the findings from the coroner, the Transport Secretary has called an urgent meeting with Highways England to discuss their progress on that [18-point] plan.’
A Highways England spokesman said: ‘We are determined to do all we can to make our roads as safe as possible and are already addressing many of the points raised by the coroner.’
Smart motorway Q&A
What is a smart motorway?
Smart motorways involve a range of methods to manage traffic flow, most controversially using the hard shoulder as a live running lane. Refuges where drivers can stop are placed every mile or so. Variable speed limits are also used.
How many are there?
Motorways with sections where the hard shoulder has been removed include the M1, M4, M5, M6, M25 and M62. The smart network stretches to around 500 miles in England, with an additional 300 miles planned by 2025.
What are the benefits?
Smart motorways are designed to increase capacity without the more disruptive and costly process of widening carriageways.
But are they safe?
Concerns have been raised about incidents where stopped vehicles are hit from behind. Highways England has insisted smart motorways are ‘at least as safe as, or safer than, the conventional motorways they replaced’. But a survey of drivers by the RAC found 70 per cent felt removing the hard shoulder on motorways compromised safety.
How many have died?
BBC Panorama in January last year found that at least 38 people had died on stretches of smart motorways over the previous five years.
What do officials say?
An ‘evidence stocktake’ published by Transport Secretary Grant Shapps last March stated that the risk of a collision between moving vehicles is lower on smart motorways than conventional motorways. But the chance of a crash involving a moving vehicle and a stationary vehicle was found to be higher when the hard shoulder was removed. An 18-point action plan included more refuges for emergencies and faster rollout of a radar-based system to spot stranded vehicles.
Are smart motorways used in other European countries?
The vast majority of motorway-style roads in Europe have a permanent emergency lane.
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