Crisis talks over smart motorways: Showdown with Transport Secretary Grant Shapps looms as it emerges road chiefs were told of risks in 2011
Road chiefs are facing crisis talks with the Transport Secretary over the safety of smart motorways, it emerged last night.
Grant Shapps is understood to be unimpressed with Highways England’s handling of the controversial roads, which a coroner has described as presenting an ‘ongoing risk of future deaths’.
Talks with Highways England’s acting chief executive, Nick Harris, and potentially other senior officials are expected to take place in the coming days.
It comes as the Daily Mail can reveal road chiefs were warned nearly ten years ago that smart motorways could lead to deaths and corporate manslaughter charges.
Minutes from a 2011 meeting reveal how a lawyer for the Department for Transport raised concerns over converting hard shoulders into permanently live lanes of traffic.
Road chiefs are facing crisis talks with the Transport Secretary over the safety of smart motorways, it emerged last night. Pictured: The scene of a fatal crash on the M1 near Sheffield that killed Jason Mercer and Alexandru Murgeanu
Grant Shapps is understood to be unimpressed with Highways England’s handling of the controversial roads, which a coroner has described as presenting an ‘ongoing risk of future deaths’
There are currently more than 20 sections of 'smart motorways' on seven different motorways
Farah Japanwalla asked bosses at the Highways Agency, now Highways England, whether ‘corporate manslaughter had been considered as part of the design and the potential liability of the agency if a road user was killed due to operation of the network’.
However, the minutes indicate highways bosses pressed ahead because a computer simulator used to test drivers’ behaviour found it would be safe to do so.
The revelation comes after a coroner ruled on Monday that smart motorways present an ‘ongoing risk of future deaths’.
Delivering a verdict of unlawful killing, David Urpeth ruled that the lack of a hard shoulder contributed to the deaths of two drivers on the M1.
Jason Mercer, 44, and Alexandru Murgeanu, 22, were struck by a lorry near Sheffield in June 2019.
Mr Mercer’s widow Claire is a vocal campaigner against smart motorways. She said of the 2011 minutes: ‘It’s horrible. This was years before my husband was killed.
Sheffield coroner David Urpeth said the lack of a hard shoulder contributed to the deaths of Mr Mercer (pictured with Claire) and Mr Murgeanu
Claire Mercer, whose 44-year-old husband Jason died on the M1 along with delivery driver Alexandru Murgeanu, 22, said she hoped the inquest would be a catalyst for an investigation into possible corporate manslaughter charges
'If they had listened more to that warning he would still be here today. I think any individuals warned should face corporate manslaughter charges.
‘These roads are death traps. Who would take such an important safety feature away the hard that had been part of our roads for such a long time?’
She also accused Mr Shapps of treating her husband’s death like a ‘PR exercise’ with one phone call before ministers announced a review into smart motorways.
Speaking to BBC Radio 5Live she said she believed Mr Shapps had ‘wanted me to basically agree everything and say that I was on board, and then they could parade me as the grieving widow that agreed with them’.
Mr Shapps ordered a ‘stock take’ of smart motorways in 2019.
Its findings last March included an 18-point package of measures ‘to improve safety and public confidence’.
A DfT spokesman said: ‘In light of the findings from the coroner, the Transport Secretary has called an urgent meeting with Highways England to discuss their progress on that 18- plan.’
A Highways England spokesman said: ‘We are determined to do all we can to make our roads as safe as possible and are already addressing many of the points raised by the coroner.’