I was left crushed in my lorry on a smart motorway. Now I may never drive again

A lorry driver of 25 years has said he will never drive again after his truck smashed into a recovery vehicle that was stationary in a live lane on a smart motorway.

Martin Broadbelt suffered a crushed leg, five broken ribs and had to be cut free from the wreckage after failing to swerve out of the way.

National Highways did not spot the recovery vehicle, which was assisting a van with a puncture, on CCTV in time to close the lane to traffic.

The M6 where the accident happened is also not fitted with “stopped vehicle detection” (SVD) technology meant to identify stranded cars.

Mr Broadbelt, 50, agreed to become the first lorry driver to speak out about the threat posed by stationary vehicles in live lanes where the hard shoulder has been scrapped, as he fears more deaths will occur.

He explained how it was difficult to tell whether the vehicle was moving or not.

‘I thought the recovery truck was still moving’

“I thought the recovery truck was still moving. It was only in the last moments as I got close that I realised it was stationary. I swerved, but it was too late,” he said from his Wigan home.

“I got crushed; my left leg’s tibia bone was broken and five of my ribs were shattered.”

Numerous inquests into live lane smart motorway deaths have heard how the “looming effect” can confuse motorists into wrongly thinking static vehicles are moving.

“I’ve been driving professionally for 25 years. But, I don’t know if I can get back in a lorry ever again,” he continued.

“A month earlier, I had to swerve to avoid a mother and child getting out of a broken down car on the inside lane. I could have killed them.

“Scrapping the hard shoulder is madness. It’s about saving money over and above safety.”