UK Edition
Smart motorways are a risk to life, says widow suing Highways England over M1 death
Plans to roll-out smart motorways across the country have been dealt a severe blow after the widow of a man killed on a notorious stretch of the M1 has revealed she will sue Highways England for corporate manslaughter.
The Sunday Telegraph can reveal that four people have now been killed on the M1 in just 10 months after they became stranded then hit by oncoming traffic in a live lane which used to be the hard shoulder.
All the collisions took place after motorists failed to reach a safe lay-by - or Emergency Refuge Area - on a 16-mile northbound stretch of the M1.
In June, Jason Mercer, 44, and Alexandru Murgeanu, 22, became the latest motorists to be killed by oncoming traffic after they pulled over following a minor collision .
Claire Mercer, 43, has accused Highways England, a Government owned company, of failing to provide her husband and Mr Murgeanu with a safe haven or having adequate systems in place to detect a stationary vehicle to close a lane off from fast moving traffic.
The pair were struck by a lorry as they exchanged insurance details near Sheffield.
Mrs Mercer’s decision to speak publicly for the first time follows the discovery of a Highways England report which found drivers were three times more likely to break down in a live lane when the hard shoulder had been removed.
It also revealed CCTV operators took an average of 20 minutes to spot stranded vehicles before closing the lane.
Mrs Mercer, from Rotherham, told The Sunday Telegraph: “The smart motorways experiment has failed and should now be scrapped.” She warned how plans to nearly double the length of these motorways from 416 miles to 788 by 2025 will result in more such deaths.
“Removing the hard shoulder robbed my husband and Alexandru of a safe refuge. Police told me the lane was not closed after they became stranded. If it had they would be alive today.”
A Highways England spokeswoman refused to say whether it detected the static vehicles or closed the lane, adding it was inappropriate to comment during a police investigation.
A 39-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of causing death by dangerous driving and has been released on police bail.
Widow battling for the truth about safety of smart motorways
Claire Mercer smiles as she concedes she seems an unlikely expert on the minutiae of England’s motorway network.
Sifting through dog-eared files of Commons transport select committee reports and accident statistics, the 43-year-old buyer for a Sheffield glass furnace company wishes she never needed to have become an expert.
On the morning of June 7, she kissed goodbye to her husband, Jason, who drove in his new company car to his work as contracts manager at a construction company.
“Shortly afterwards I sat at home reading online about this horrific three car crash on the M1,” she said. “He would always message me to say he had arrived safely. I started messaging him saying I was worried because of the bad accident.”
She telephoned police, gave his car registration and was told they were running it through the system in connection with that crash four hours earlier.
“I looked out of the window and saw two officers wearing high-viz jackets walking to my door. I knew.”
her husband of nearly 10 years and Alexandru Mergeanu were killed after they pulled over following a minor collision on the northbound M1 near Sheffield.
Because the hard shoulder had been turned into a fourth lane, Jason Mercer, 44, and Mr Mergeanu, 22, had tucked their cars in against the barrier. There was no nearby lay-by - or ‘Emergency Refuge Area’ (ERA) in Highways England jargon - to shield them from oncoming traffic.
“They were doing what they were legally required to do - sharing insurance details,” Mrs Mercer said.
A lorry hit their vehicles and killed Mr Mercer and Mr Mergeanu outright.
“Jason and Alexandru’s deaths proves these motorways are anything but smart,” she said.
“Two people died that day. Two families have been utterly devastated because the hard shoulder had been turned into a live lane. It’s that simple.”
She weeps as she explains how “at least” two others have died on the northbound carriageway of the M1 smart motorway in alarmingly similar circumstances in the space of 10 months.
Last September a 62-year-old female passenger was killed when a Nissan Qashqai she was a passenger in broke down on the M1 near Sheffield. Both she and the driver got out of the car. About 16 minutes later a Mercedes E-class struck the Nissan before it hit the woman, who has not been named.
In March, Derek Jacobs, 83, was killed when his Volkswagen Crafter stopped in the first lane of the northbound M1 in Derbyshire after getting a puncture. His vehicle was struck by a coach and the retired engineer was crushed against a barrier.
Then, Mr Jacobs’s son, Matt, 50, predicted these smart motorway deaths “would happen again and again - but nobody will put two and two together”. His prediction came true.
Mrs Mercer, from Rotherham, wants a judicial review to establish whether, as both she and Mr Jacobs’ son believe, there will be yet more deaths because motorists have been “robbed” of the hard shoulder.
Pointing to files of research, she said Highways England and the Government are in the grip of “collective madness” as it rolls out yet more smart motorways. They have promised to nearly double such motorways from 416 to 788 miles by 2025.
Her concern is the majority of the new routes will be so-called ‘All Lane Running’ motorways - where the hard shoulder is transformed into a live or fourth lane.
Picking up a 2016 Commons Transport Committee report she turns to a page in which the Department of Transport is accused of being “disingenuous” in how it presented risks posed by the removal of the hard shoulder.
She said: “If they take away the hard shoulder they must have systems in place that protect motorists. These tragic deaths show those systems have failed repeatedly.”
Smart motorways rely on variable speed limits being imposed from gantries, which can also issue ‘Red X’ signs ordering motorists to move out of a lane if a peril has been detected. Both systems can also raise money for the Treasury through fines for those who fail to heed instructions.
A Motorway Incident Detection and Automatic Signalling system (Midas) monitors congestion and spots stranded cars through CCTV, a radar system and detectors built into carriageways.
Mrs Mercer added: “Police told me the lane had remained open until after they were killed. This means either the safety back-up systems did not detect the two static vehicles or if they were detected it was not spotted in time lane and lane remained open.
“Highways England needs to explain whether the back-up systems failed to save Jason and Alexandru. At best it could be negligent. At worst it may verge on criminal.
“There was no emergency refuge area nearby. Why not? I’ve not heard Highways England’s explanation. ”
Highways England declined to comment on the circumstances surrounding Mr Mercer’s death, explaining it would be “inappropriate” because a police investigation is ongoing. A 39-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of causing death by dangerous driving and released on police bail.
A Highways England spokeswoman said: “Our thoughts are with the family and friends of those involved in the incident on June 7.
“Safety is our top priority and we will continue to evaluate all lane running schemes and work closely with all the emergency services to ensure safety is maintained.
“The evidence shows that where all lane running has been introduced, there have been fewer collisions and congestion has reduced despite an increased number of vehicles using them.”
The company insists “evidence indicates” across nine ‘All Lane Running’ motorways the fatality rate has reduced by 28 per cent.
Mrs Mercer fears her husband will one day be among the statistics pored over by other grieving relatives struggling to understand how a loved one was killed on a so-called ‘smart’ motorway.