Smart motorways pose death risk, says coroner

smart motorways present an ‘ongoing risk of future deaths’, a coroner warned yesterday.

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.

He said he would ask UK Government ministers for a safety review ‘in the hope that lives can be saved’.

Jason mercer, 44, and alexandru murgeanu, 22, were struck by a lorry in the tragedy near sheffield in June 2019.

mr mercer’s widow Claire, who is a vocal campaigner against smart motorways, cried when the coroner gave his decision.

‘somebody has listened and finally taken steps to address the use of these death trap roads,’ said the 43-year-old after the inquest. ‘We have taken a first step today to protecting the lives of others.’

thirty-eight people have been killed on smart motorways over a five-year period, the BBC reported last year. mrs mercer’s solicitor, Neil Hudgell, said: ‘If “smart motorways” continue in their present format to be allowed to operate, there will be continued deaths, and no doubt at some point an accident catastrophic in the number of people either seriously injured or killed in a single incident.’

mr mercer, a contracts manager from rotherham, had just joined the northbound carriageway at junction 34 around 8.15am when he caused a minor collision with mr murgeanu’s delivery van.

Instead of driving to the nearest ‘refuge’ area a mile on, both drivers stopped on the inside lane. this decision was described as ‘unwise but understandable’ by the coroner at sheffield town Hall. the van was parked behind the car with its hazard lights on.

the pair exchanged details and were standing between the two vehicles when a lorry smashed into the van, killing both men instantly.

the HGV driver, Prezemyslaw szuba, admitted he was not paying attention and was jailed for ten months for causing death by careless driving last October.

the coroner agreed with the judge at sheffield Crown Court that the 40-year-old was primarily to blame. But experts giving evidence to the inquest said the crash probably would not have happened had there been a hard shoulder.

Cars that break down on smart motorways can be marooned in fast-moving traffic. there are around 500 miles of them in England. In scotland, there have been proposals for such a system on the m8.

In his ruling, the coroner said there had not been enough education around the use of smart motorways.

the Highways agency said it would ‘carefully consider’ the coroner’s comments.