Leicestershire road safety campaigner says more to be done as new smart motorways scrapped

Meera Naran is campaigning for better road safety

A road safety campaigner from Leicestershire whose son died on the M6 in 2018 says more needs to be done after the government announced plans to scrap the building of new smart motorways.

Meera Naran, whose work to cut road deaths was acknowledged with an MBE last year, said her campaign would continue.

"I am going to keep continuing to campaign, campaigning for vision 0 which is 0 deaths on our roads."

Fourteen planned smart motorways – including 11 that are already paused and three earmarked for construction – will be removed from Government road building plans, given financial pressures and in recognition of the lack of public trust.

The Department for Transport said the construction of these schemes would have cost more than £1 billion. But the department added that the construction of two stretches of smart motorway - including one on the M6 - will continue as they are already more than three quarters complete.

Existing stretches will remain but be subjected to a safety refit so there are 150 more emergency stopping places across the network.

What are smart motorways?

Around 10% of England’s motorway network is made up of smart motorways. They involve various methods to manage the flow of traffic, such as converting the hard shoulder into a live running lane and variable speed limits.

But there have been long-standing safety fears following fatal incidents in which vehicles stopped in live lanes without a hard shoulder were hit from behind.

Meera's son Dev was just eight when he died after his Grandfather's Toyota was struck by a lorry.

She has since campaigned for all vehicles to be fitted with emergency brakes, and has called for drivers to be better educated in road safety.

Speaking after the announcement, Transport Secretary Mark Harper said: “We want the public to know that this Government is listening to their concerns.

“Today’s announcement means no new smart motorways will be built, recognising the lack of public confidence felt by drivers and the cost pressures due to inflation.”