Article in The Telegraph 02/02/20 – Daughter of woman killed on smart motorway accuses Highways England of being responsible for her death

Speaking publicly for the first time, Saima Aktar said her mother, Nargis Bashir, 62, would be alive today if the M1 had not had its hard shoulder converted into a live lane for traffic.

Mrs Bashir, a mother of five and grandmother of nine, was killed as she sought safety before the car she was a passenger in was hit and then ploughed into her. She and her husband had been driving home to Sheffield after visiting friends in September 2018.

Her daughter has agreed to her first interview because she hopes it will help give Grant Shapps, the transport secretary, “the nerve” to end the “madness” of smart motorways.

Her family is also planning to sue Highways England for corporate manslaughter because it removed the hard shoulder without having adequate technology to spot stationary vehicles.