Coroner: My smart M-way deaths fear

A CORONER yesterday warned of more deaths on smart motorways because road chiefs have failed to properly explain the dangers they pose.

Nicola Mundy wrote to National Highways warning of ‘a risk that future deaths will occur’ without a fresh publicity campaign. It came after the inquest into the death of Nargis Begum, 62, who was killed on a stretch of the M1 with no hard shoulder in 2018. She was a passenger in a Nissan Qashqai being driven by her husband when it became marooned in live traffic on the inside lane.

The mother-of-five was unable to climb over a safety barrier and rested on it to wait for help. After waiting more than 16 minutes, another car smashed into the back of theirs, propelling it into her.

In her letter, Ms Mundy said 153 drivers passed the stricken car and none alerted National Highways. She said there was a ‘lack of emphasis on the importance of road users’ responsibility to alert the authorities’. It concluded: ‘In my opinion there is a risk that future deaths will occur unless action is taken.’

One witness told the inquest in Doncaster how he did not report the Nissan as he believed it would be picked up by staff constantly monitoring cameras. National Highways said this was not practicable – it was asked if more could be done to educate people about this, and has until next week to respond.

Mr Begum’s daughter Saima Aktar, 40, said: ‘While there may be cameras, what happened to mum shows people can’t rely on these.’ National Highways boss Nick Harris said is has ‘an ongoing programme of road safety campaign activity’.