Smart motorways’ ‘savings over safety’

Independent report raises legal threat

ROADS: The installation of smart motorways specifically reduced safety in order to cut costs, an independent report claims.

Motorists are 216 per cent more likely to be involved in a breakdown on an open motorway lane on stretches adopting the “all lanes running” approach, introduced in 2012, says the report.

THE INSTALLATION of smart motorways specifically reduced safety in order to cut costs, an independent report has claimed.

Motorists are 216 per cent more likely to be involved in a breakdown on an open motorway lane on stretches adopting the “all lanes running” (ALR) approach, brought in by Highways England in 2012, according to the report.

The document was commissioned by lawyers Irwin Mitchell alongside Claire Mercer, whose husband Jason Mercer died after being hit by a lorry while he was pulled over on to a live lane on a smart motorway stretch of the M1 near Rotherham, South Yorkshire, in June 2019.

Another motorist, Alexandru Murgeanu, was also killed in the collision for which a lorry driver was convicted for causing death by careless driving, although a coroner ruled in January that their deaths may have been avoided had the hard shoulder not been open to traffic.

Irwin Mitchell, along with Ms Mercer, have now called for the Government, including Trans“growing

port Secretary Grant Shapps and senior leaders at Highways England, to halt the use of ALRs or face “potential legal action”.

Helen Smith, the specialist public law and human rights lawyer at Irwin Mitchell representing Ms Mercer, said there was a

groundswell” of concerns surrounding the safety of opening the hard shoulder to traffic.

Ms Smith said: “We call on the Department for Transport, Grant Shapps, and Highways England to acknowledge that the development and roll out of ALRs was flawed. They must act in accordance with their legal duties and take action to improve safety, or face formal legal action.”

Sarah Simpson of Royal HaskoningDHV, a transport planner with 20 years of experience and author of the report, said her findings were that ALR motorways “undoubtedly” had the lowest level of intrinsic safety” of all motorways.

In her report, she likened the approach Highways England had taken in installing smart motorways to “value engineering”, which she said “compromised safety in order to secure cost savings”, and added that until changes were made, motorists would continue to be at risk of death or serious injury.

“As a result, ALR presents a controlled environment by design, which can give people the impression they are safe, even when they are not,” she said.