More will die if nothing is done: Coroner says road chiefs must act on smart motorways after mother-of-five, 62, was killed when Mercedes ploughed into her broken-down Nissan in slow lane after 153 cars passed by without alerting authorities
- Coroner Nicola Mendy wrote to National Highways about smart motorway safety
- Is ‘a risk more deaths will occur’ if public understanding is not improved, she said
- Conducted an inquest into death of Nargis Begum at Doncaster Coroner’s Court
- Concluded the lack of a hard shoulder contributed to the 62-year-old’s death
full article here
Just home after nearly being killed on the M4 near reading. Sign said report of obstruction. In fact lane 1 was blocked by a van whose driver was trying to tie down an unstable load. Cars swerving everywhere. An articulated lorry braking hard swung in front of my car. How we avoided it I don’t know. Seconds from carnage. 55 years of driving and this was the closest shave yet. Four lane running should be peak times only and have a 50mph limit. At other times lane 1 should act as a hard shoulder with red X over, and then 70mph in the other lanes.