Police feel misled over smart motorway risks
Police have accused highways bosses of misleading them over the dangers of smart motorways as a senior official branded them a “death trap” and a report by MPS said their introduction was “shocking and careless” and had cost lives. Highways England is facing a criminal investigation over the system, which converts hard shoulders into live lanes, after Claire Mercer, 43, the widow of a motorist killed on a smart motorway near Sheffield, made formal allegations of corporate manslaughter.
‘Without the technology we were promised, it is a recipe for disaster … they can be a death trap’
POLICE have said they were misled over the dangers of smart motorways as the new roads were branded a “death trap”.
A senior policing leader yesterday accused Highways England of irresponsibly pushing through the controversial project which converts hard shoulders to live lanes at busy times and has been linked to 38 deaths.
It came after a damning report by MPS concluded that the “shocking and careless” rollout of the scheme had cost lives. Most of the deaths linked to the scheme involve people being struck by vehicles after they broke down in fastflowing traffic and could not find a safe place to stop.
Highways England is already facing a criminal investigation after Claire
Mercer, 43, the widow of a motorist who was killed on a smart motorway near Sheffield, made formal allegations of corporate manslaughter.
John Apter, the chairman of the Police Federation, yesterday accused Highways England of misleading the Government, the public and the police about the role that technology would play in keeping the road network safe.
He said the transport agency had wrongly assured officers in planning meetings that the new roads would all be fitted with radar to automatically spot broken-down vehicles so drivers could be rescued quickly.
Instead, the technology has only been introduced on a 25-mile stretch of the M25, a fraction of the 400 miles of smart motorways opened so far.
Mr Apter told The Daily Telegraph:
“We were told the technology would be so advanced that if there was an obstruction the system would pick it up, help would be dispatched and the gantry would flash up a warning closing the affected lane. We … have been completely misled and a poorer system has been introduced.
“What we now learn is that it takes an average of 17 minutes for an obstruction to be spotted and another 17 minutes for help to arrive. That will feel like an eternity for the person trapped.
“The Government and the public are not getting what was promised. Without the technology we were promised, it is a recipe for disaster. I don’t like calling them ‘smart motorways’ because that suggests they are in some way better. They can be a death trap.”
Highways England had been due to attend a roads policing conference today at which it was expected to come under fire from officers. But the agency has pulled out, claiming that it is too busy responding to the MPS’ report.
It has also emerged that Highways England refused to respond to a request from the Police Federation about the number of deaths and injuries.
The information was eventually provided to the BBC’S Panorama, which revealed that 38 people had died on the network in the past five years. Grant Shapps, the Transport Secretary, told the programme: “We absolutely have to have these as safe as regular motorways or safer or we shouldn’t have them at all.”
Next month, a government review into smart motorways will recommend a major overhaul of the network, it is understood.
A Highways England spokesman said last night: “Any death on our roads is one too many, and our deepest sympathies remain with the family and friends of those who lost their lives.
“The Transport Secretary has asked the Department for Transport to carry out, at pace, an evidence stocktake to gather the facts about smart motorway safety. We are committed to safety and are supporting the Department in its work on this.”