Highways England avoids manslaughter charges over South Yorkshire 'smart motorway' deaths

Bosses in charge of England's roads will not face charges over the deaths of three people on a stretch of so-called smart motorway in South Yorkshire.

South Yorkshire Police launched an investigation into possible corporate manslaughter charges against Highways England in relation to one incident which claimed the lives of Jason Mercer and Alexandru Murgeanu and a separate crash which killed Nargis Begum.

But the force said the agency could not be held criminally responsible because it did not owe road users a "relevant duty of care" under the law.

Today Mr Mercer's widow, Claire, who has been campaigning for smart motorways to be scrapped, said she had not been told of the decision – despite meeting police on Monday.

She said she was "very surprised to be informed by the media" and added: "Myself and members of Nargis Begum's family were left in no doubt that the law didn’t fit the crime, but we were specifically told this was not the end and we were certainly not told a statement of this nature was being released."

What is a smart motorway?

A smart motorway is a section of a motorway that uses traffic management to increase the amount of road available to vehicles and reduce congestion.

These methods include using the hard shoulder as a live lane and implementing variable speed limits to control the flow of traffic.

The use of the hard shoulder as a running lane has been particularly controversial.

Deaths on smart motorways

Smart motorways have been the subject of intense scrutiny since Jason Mercer, 44, and Alexandru Murgeanu, 22, died when Prezemyslaw Szuba crashed his lorry into their vehicles near Sheffield on 7 June, 2019.

Szuba, 40, from Hull, was later jailed after admitting causing their deaths by careless driving.

But a coroner at an inquest into the deaths said smart motorways without a hard shoulder carry "an ongoing risk of future deaths".

The deaths of the two men came a year after grandmother-of-nine Nargis Begum, 62, from Sheffield, was killed after her car broke down on part of the M1 with no hard shoulder.

Official figures show there were 38 recorded deaths on smart motorways between 2015 and 2019, with more reported in the years since.

What have police said?

South Yorkshire Police paid tribute to the "families and campaigners fighting with dignity and admirable determination in their search for answers and action following these tragedies".

But the force said Highways England could not be held liable for the offence of corporate manslaughter.

Temporary Assistant Chief Constable Sarah Poolman said: "This is because, in legal terms, the organisation did not owe road users a 'relevant duty of care' under the terms set out in the Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Act 2007.

"For this reason, I have brought the police investigation into this offence to an end."

She said the force regretted being "unable to provide all the answers that families and campaigners are looking for".

Is this the end of the matter?

Lawyers acting for the families of the victims say they will keep fighting.

Helen Smith, a specialist smart motorways lawyer at the law firm Irwin Mitchell, said: "Claire and Nargis’s family as well as many others continue to have serious concerns about smart motorways and their safety.

"We keep on hearing worrying first-hand stories of how people are being seriously injured or killed on smart motorways while the independent report we commissioned through road safety experts also highlighted grave concerns.

"While we thank the police and Crown Prosecution Service for their thorough investigation the families we represent are obviously disappointed by the decision.

"However, this doesn’t mean their quest for meaningful change is over."