Traffic officer tells M1 crash inquest of 'daily' issues on smart motorway

A traffic officer who attended a fatal crash on a section of so-called smart motorway has told a coroner that he finds drivers stranded in live lanes on a daily basis.

Julian Havell, who has 17 years experience patrolling motorways in Yorkshire for National Highways, gave evidence on the second day of the inquest into the death of 62-year-old grandmother Nargis Begum.

Mrs Begum died four years ago after a car crashed into her while she was waiting for help after breaking down on a stretch of the M1 near Sheffield with no hard shoulder.

Mr Havell's patrol was called to help after a Mercedes collided with the Nissan Qashqai Mrs Begum had been travelling in, hitting her in the process.

On Wednesday, 7 September, Mr Havell told Doncaster Coroner's Court that he finds people stranded on live lanes every day, including seven in one day.

Smart motorways mean the hard shoulder can operate as a live lane during busy periods. Overhead signs are used to inform drivers.

Mr Havell said: "I found one lady sitting in the live lane of the M1 who had been there in excess of one-and-a-half hours."

He also told the inquest that there had been a "degradation of safety" by the removal of technology and emergency refuges, which he believed had not been put into place for two stretches of the M1 in Yorkshire.

Mr Havell said that technology to detect stationary vehicles had been planned for these sections of the M1 when they were initially converted to smart motorways but it was not included when the sections were opened, despite masts being constructed for the equipment.

He added: "I can't say whether it was budget constraints or an issue with the operation of the technology.

"As a traffic officer, I personally believe that the emergency refuges are not close enough together. There's not enough of them."

However, Prashant Popat QC, for National Highways, said: "There is no piece of safety technology that's relevant to anything we are discussing at this inquest that was removed from between junction 29 and 31 of the M1 at any stage prior to the construction of the ALR (all lane running smart motorway) or removed after construction."

Mr Popat also told the witness that the gaps between refuges or other places of relative safety, including junctions and service stations, were all within those specified in the relevant guidelines.

Last year, senior coroner Nicola Mundy asked South Yorkshire Police to consider whether Highways England should face corporate manslaughter charges over Mrs Begum's death.

In February, police said the organisation, now renamed National Highways, would not be charged as it did not owe road users a "relevant duty of care" according to the Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Act 2007.

On Tuesday, the inquest heard from Mrs Begum's daughter, who told the hearing smart motorways were "dangerous and flawed".

The driver of the Mercedes, Kantrimas Zukauskas, who was initially arrested on suspicion of causing death by dangerous driving, had refused to give evidence at the hearing.