Disabled drivers back legal action over smart motorways
Wheelchair users cannot escape from a vehicle if it breaks down on fast lane
HIGHWAYS England has been accused of breaching the Equality Act for failing to consider the perils of disabled people on smart motorways, The Sunday Telegraph can reveal.
Disability campaigners are backing a legal challenge claiming wheelchair users will be unable to escape their car if it breaks down in fast-moving traffic in a live lane. Claire Mercer, whose husband Jason was killed when he failed to reach an emergency refuge area on the M1, is seeking a judicial review into the safety of smart motorways. Numerous wheelchair users, petrified of breaking down because they would struggle to get out of specially adapted cars, have contacted her. Many fear if they did get out they could not clamber to safety over barriers.
Carers who drive modified cars have warned they cannot leave the car on the passenger’s side because the wheelchair is in the way, forcing them into the path of cars swerving their stranded vehicle. While able-bodied motorists who fail to reach ERAs in a breakdown are advised to get out the nearside door and wait behind the barrier if safe to do so, wheelchair users are essentially told to stay buckled up, put the hazard lights on, call 999 and await help.
It takes an average of 17 minutes for Highways England to spot breakdowns on CCTV before closing the lane. Up to 26 such breakdowns happen each day. Dr Stephen Duckworth, governor of Motability, a charity helping disabled people obtain cars, said he recently broke down on a conventional motorway where his driver helped him out of the specially adapted car on the hard shoulder.
“If the same were to happen on a smart motorway, I wouldn’t have stood a chance,” he said. “The absence of a hard shoulder has resulted in me being more anxious on smart motorways.”
Kamran Mallick, chief executive of Disability Rights UK, said he had “personal concerns” about smart motorways, and explained “not being able to get out is frightening”.
Dr Lisa Cameron, chairman of the all-party parliamentary group for disability, said the removal of the hard shoulder was a “death trap for disabled people”, adding: “The insurmountable difficulty many disabled people face in reaching a safe refuge area was clearly not given sufficient attention when smart motorways were designed.”
James Taylor, from the disability charity Scope, said safety was critical for the one million disabled motorists in the UK for whom driving offers independence.
Clare Gray, a disability advocacy adviser who has spinal muscular atrophy and has limited movement, said it takes five minutes to lower the rear ramp, open the back and move her electric wheelchair out of her vehicle. “Once out there is no safe place for me to go as I can’t get over the barrier. ”
Helen Smith, a human rights lawyer at Irwin Mitchell who is representing Mrs Mercer, said: “There may be a potential breach of the Equalities Act if sufficient safeguards are not put in place on smart motorways.”
A Highways England spokesman said it was “committed” to meeting the needs of disabled road users, adding that “all our roads are built in line with disability legislation”.