New smart motorways will not open until after safety review, Government confirms

A minister has branded them a "death-trap"

The roll-out of smart motorways will be halted until a safety review has taken place, the Government has revealed.

Grant Shapps, the Government's Transport Secretary, said he wanted to make sure all motorways in the country are "as safe as they possibly can be" before starting a review in October last year.

On Thursday, January 30, Mr Shapps told the Commons that no new smart motorways will be opened until the safety review has been completed, reports NottinghamshireLive.

He said an "evidenced-based stock-take" is being carried out on the safety of the new technology to "get a much better outcome".

Shadow Transport minister Karl Turner had called on Mr Shapps to scrap the "death-trap" motorways - which have no hard shoulder - after five people were killed in just 10 months along a 16-mile stretch of the M1.

The announcement comes after the widow of a man killed on the M1 recently set up a crowdfunding campaign to raise money for a criminal investigation against Highways England.

Claire Mercer's husband, Jason, was 44 when he was killed alongside 22-year-old Alexandru Murgeanu, of Mansfield, after they were hit by a lorry near junction 34 of the M1 in June last year.

Mr Shapps said a £92million project in Kent will not open to traffic until after the review, and the 6.5-mile stretch of the M20 which is being converted into a smart motorway will not open in March as planned.

Responding to the news, Philip Gomm, of motoring research charity the RAC Foundation, said: "On safety grounds this pause is unarguable.

"But it does mean that for users of the M20 - who have suffered delays not just because of this scheme but also the Brexit-related speed restrictions and lane closures - the inconvenience is set to go on.

"No-one underestimates the complexity of these schemes but it does underline the need to get the design right first time."

Mrs Mercer is calling for a legal case to be made against Highways England, with lawyers from Irwin Mitchell currently looking into this.

She previously said: “It was only after Jason’s death, when I started looking into what smart motorways were and the various types that are in operation, that I started to understand what they are.

“Ever since then I have been adamant that they are confusing, extremely dangerous and kill. To now hear that some of those deaths, possibly including Jason’s, could have been avoided if promises had been kept is absolutely staggering."

Her husband was killed on an all lane running motorway, where the hard shoulder is used by traffic as a way to reduce congestion without widening the carriageway.

When an accident occurs a red X appears on a digital display above, while stationary traffic is detected by a monitoring system.

However, the live lane in which Jason and Mr Murgeanu were in on June 7 last year did not close to traffic until six minutes after they reportedly had a minor crash.

Highways England has been contacted for comment.