The widow of a man killed in a smart motorway crash near Sheffield has called comments made by a Rotherham councillor “damaging to a campaign based on safety” after he accused the authority of ‘virtue signalling’ over its stance against them.
Claire Mercer, whose husband Jason was killed on the the M1, said Councillor Carter’s objections to the reversal of the smart motorways rollout are “damaging to a campaign based on safety”.
Claire’s husband Jason Mercer was 44 when he was killed alongside Alexandru Murgeanu, 22, after they stopped to exchange details following a minor collision in June 2019.
Both men were killed when they were hit by a HGV near junction 34 at Meadowhall.
In a meeting held by Rotherham Council on July 22, Coun Emma Hoddinott introduced a notice of motion to reiterate the council’s opposition to all-lane running using the hard shoulder as a permanent live traffic lane, and support campaigns to get all-lane running reverted.
Councillor Hoddinot cited Ms Mercer’s work during the motion, calling her a “tireless and admirable campaigner.”
However, Lib Dem councillor Adam Carter, who represents the Brinsworth and Catcliffe Ward, accused the Labour administration of using the council to “virtue signal about an issue over which it does not have control.”
He called the motion against smart motorways “anti-business”, and said that a better approach would be to focus on improving education and awareness, as well as more frequent refuge areas, and campaigning for technology to be installed as soon as possible.
However, Ms Mercer believes his comments are “damaging to a campaign based on safety”, and added that the focus on business is “short sighed “.
She said: “I hope he doesn’t learn the way I did, just how dangerous these roads, that none of us knew about, are.
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