Highways England has been asked to respond to yet another ‘fear of future deaths’ report from a coroner concerned about smart motorways.
By Steve Bird 6 March 2021 • 3:00pm
Four coroners have now issued 'prevention of future deaths' reports over fears removing the hard shoulders on smart motorways can result in stranded drivers being killed CREDIT: LIVEPIX
A coroner has warned how more people will die on smart motorways after issuing the fourth ‘prevention of future deaths’ report about five fatalities in just two years, the Telegraph can reveal.
Tom Stoate, the assistant coroner for Bedfordshire and Luton, has written to Highways England calling for urgent action after a detective declared a teenager would not have died and two others end up in comas if the hard shoulder had not been scrapped on the M1.
In December 2019, five Middlesex University students were returning home from a sports trip when their Kia Sedona suffered a power failure but managed to reach an emergency refuge area (ERA).
Twelve seconds later the car’s systems came back to normal and they rejoined the southbound motorway. But, after travelling 475 feet (145m) the car again shut down stopping on the inside live lane.
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