Jason Mercer and Alexandru Murgeanu were killed in June 2019 when a lorry ploughed into their vehicles at the side of the smart motorway. Their cars had been stationary for six minutes following a minor collision when the lorry struck.

Sheffield Coroner David Urpeth concluded this week that the men had been unlawfully killed, their primary cause of death being careless driving by the lorry driver. But he said the fatal collision would likely have been avoided on a conventional motorway with a hard shoulder.

He said there is an “an ongoing risk of future deaths” if smart motorways continue to operate without a hard shoulder and intends to write to Highways England and the Secretary of State to request a safety review.

Highways England said it was “already addressing many of the points raised” by the coroner as published in the Government’s Smart Motorway Evidence Stocktake & Action Plan last March.

This included promises to abolish ‘dynamic’ hard shoulder smart motorways, speed up deployment of stopped vehicle detection technology and reduce the distance between emergency refuge areas.

“We will carefully consider any further comments raised by the coroner once we receive the report,” Highways England’s spokesman added.

Jason Mercer’s widow has been campaigning against the use of smart motorways since her husband’s death. She welcomed the coroner’s call for a review and highlighted how many members of the public lack knowledge or understanding about how smart motorways work.

“That means that if people break down on one of these motorways, like Jason, they’ll have no idea where to go,” she said. “Not only are these roads dangerous but we have also heard that the technology just simply isn’t up to standard to make them safe.”
She added: “I won’t accept anything other than the hard shoulder being reintroduced on every single motorway.”

Her solicitor Neil Hudgell added: “We are very grateful to the coroner for the recommendations he has made and certainly for his call for a wider review into the safety of smart motorways.

“This is something we feel must be conducted through a public inquiry where all reviews of such roads, and the life costing accidents which have taken place, can be considered.”
He added that plans for further smart motorways should be put on hold until such an inquiry concludes.

Following the fatal incident, the lorry driver Prezemyslaw Zbigniew Szuba was jailed after being prosecuted for causing death by driving without due care and attention.

(Photograph: Highways England)