The death toll from smart motorway-related accidents has surged to a record number, according to figures held back from publication by the Department of Transport (DfT).
According to a report from last September’s on the Stats-19 accident database, there were 14 fatalities in 2019 on motorways that use the hard shoulder as a full or part-time live lane, a significant rise from 11 deaths in 2018 and five deaths in 2017.
The Stats-19 accident database is utilised by the Department for Transport (DfT) for its annual statistical accident report and provides statistics on road accidents that are reported to the police.
RoadSafetyAnalysis, an analysis platform for the road safety industry, also contributed to the report.
According to an article in The Times, the true death toll in 2019 on smart motorways was in fact 15, because the death of a passenger in hospital some seven weeks after an accident was not counted.
Furthermore, the number of fatalities per mile of smart motorway has risen from one every 43 miles in 2016, to one every 17 miles in 2019.
The news comes as it was revealed that a coroner is investigating the death of 62-year-old grandmother Nargis Begum who died in a smart motorway accident in South Yorkshire in September 2018, with the coroner referring Highways England to the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) to consider if corporate manslaughter charges were appropriate.
Mrs Begum, a mother-of-five and grandmother-of-nine, had stepped out of the stranded vehicle on the M1 in South Yorkshire and was waiting for help when another vehicle collided with the Nissan, causing it to run into her.
Mrs Begum's stranded Nissan had its hazard lights on at the time when the other vehicle collided with it but the smart motorway lane, with no hard shoulder or immediately available emergency refuge area, had not been closed to traffic.
Claire Mercer, whose husband, 44, died when a lorry ploughed into his stationary vehicle on a stretch on the M1 also in South Yorkshire on June 7 last year, told the Sunday Times: “It's 14 people who didn't come home, which is exactly what happened with my husband. People are starting to realise the emergency of it. Smart motorways need to be scrapped.
“We need the hard shoulder back. It is the only way that we will stop this dangerous situation. All motorways need a hard shoulder all of the time.”
Last month, John Apter, chairman of the Police Federation, said smart motorways were dangerous and that they were putting both drivers and police at risk: “They are a death trap. The country, police and we have been completely misled about the technology.
“A poorer system has been introduced and continues to be rolled out despite the clear dangers that they present. Smart motorways are inherently dangerous.”
Just last week, Dr Alan Billings, South Yorkshire's Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC), called on the Transport Secretary and Highways England to “abandon” the smart motorway concept entirely.
Dr Billings said: “I do not believe there is anyone who uses this stretch of the motorway, as I do, who does not feel anxious when driving along it.
“I am forced to reiterate my concerns and to strongly urge Highways England and the Department of Transport to think again about this type of motorway,” he added.
In March 2020, Transport Secretary Grant Shapps released an 18-point plan to ensure ‘dynamic hard shoulder’ motorways are abolished with an aim to end driver confusion and that ‘stopped vehicle detection’ technology -a radar-based system which spots stationary vehicles -would be rolled out across the whole smart motorway network within 36 months.
Keyword: Smart motorway deaths hit new record levels