THE future of smart motorways looks to be uncertain after it was revealed four people have now been killed on the M1 in just ten months.
All the collisions happened after motorists failed to reach a safe lay-by – also known as an Emergency Refuge Area – on a 16-mile stretch of the M1 northbound.
The widow of a man killed is now suing Highways England for corporate manslaughter, reports The Sunday Telegraph.
Smart motorways use technology as a way of reducing congestion and ease the flow of traffic.
The methods include using the hard shoulder as an active traffic lane.
Jason Mercer, 44, and Alexandru Murgeanu, 22, were killed when a lorry hit them after they had pulled over to exchange contact details.
Claire, the widow of Mr Mercer, is now launching legal action against Highways England, saying it failed to provide her husband with a safe zone.
She also accused the government organisation of not having adequate technology to detect a stationary vehicle and divert the traffic.
Previously a report said drivers were three times more likely to break down in a live lane which used to be a hard shoulder.
The same report also stated it took on average 20 minutes to spot a broken down vehicle before the lane was shut down.
MP Tracey Crouch called for the roll-out of smart motorways to be paused in July this year amid concerns the removal of the hard shoulder has left motorists and breakdown crews vulnerable.
Steve Godbold – from Ms Crouch’s constituency of Chatham, Kent- was hit and killed by a lorry on the side of the M25 in September 2017.
Police have also blasted smart motorways, saying there was nowhere for them to pull over dangerous drivers.
In January this year Police Federation road policing head Dave Blundell revealed officers had complained they had been forced to wait “miles and miles” to halt culprits.
Highways England admitted in April 2018 that variable speed limits did not reflect the live traffic situation and could mean some drivers may have been caught speeding when the limit should have been higher in the first place.
Traffic operators set speed limits for smart motorways before traffic starts to set in, dropping restrictions to between 40-60mph at high-congestion times and areas.
But these are based off “historical road usage” rather than the live traffic situation.
It means if traffic build-up doesn’t happen as predicted, motorists are forced to drive as much as 30mph below the normal speed limit despite the road being clear and free-flowing.
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