Call for £6 Billion project to be scrapped after 38 motorists are killed over five years

So-called ‘Smart Motorways’ are death traps, a leading traffic policeman has said. Their £6 billion ‘roll-out’ should be scrapped immediately,

John Apter, chairman of the Police Federation and himself a former traffic officer, said these roads are dangerous, placing both drivers and police officers at risk.

Eight year old schoolboy Dev Naran from Leicester (pictured) is just one victim whose life has been horrendously snuffed out in this experiment to push more vehicles through congested motorways – when his Granddad’s Toyota was ‘wiped out’ by a lorry..

Highways England are still insisting that these ‘smart motorways’, where the hard shoulder is used by vehicles as an extra regular lane, are safe because they have ‘refuges’ for broken-down vehicles. But Mr Apter insists: ‘They are a death trap” and claims further that the nation has been completely misled about the technology.

“A poorer system has been introduced and continues to be rolled out despite the clear dangers that they present. Smart motorways are inherently dangerous.”

Thirty eight people have been killed on these ‘smart motorways’ in the past five years., according to BBC research. And other people have been horrifically maimed after crashes where they have been ‘sitting ducks’ for lorries crashing into them. There are sizable sets of carriageways like this between Merseyside and Greater Manchester on the M62 and dozen more miles are presently in the process of ‘conversion’ which is costing billions of pounds nationwide.

The process was given the ‘go’ by Conservative roads minister Sir Mike Penning in 2010 after a trial run on the M42 near Birmingham. But on that ‘pilot’ there were safe emergency stopping points for motorists every 600 metres which most breaking down cars could limp along to in order to pull out of danger. But somehow, when when the scheme was ‘rolled out’  across the country, some of these ‘refuges’ were two and a half miles apart.

Mr Apter, says: ‘We were told that the technology would be so advanced that if there was an obstruction the system would automatically pick it up, help would be dispatched and the gantry would flash up a warning closing the affected lane.” But dozens of motorists have found out to their ultimate cost that this was not true. Drivers have had no choice but to stop in the path of fast-moving traffic.

Highways England have been unable to answer key questions about the serious safety concerns.

Richard Burnett, of the Road Haulage Association, has called for bigger and more frequent ‘refuge areas’ and better signage to ensure drivers understand when hard shoulders are closed to active running. “Lives have been lost, he says, and that is totally unacceptable.”

Shaun Coole, of the Road Rescue Recovery Association, believes that we’re going to have another M25 catastrophe soon. “I guarantee you – I’d put my house on it” he says.

The widow of one man who died on a stretch of ‘smart motorway’ has called for Highways England to face criminal investigation for charges of corporate manslaughter.

Claire Mercer’s husband Jason, 44, was killed after stopping to exchange details after an incident with another motorist in June last year.

He  and his 22 year old fellow victim died when a lorry ploughed into them on the M1 at Meadowhall near Sheffield. Mrs Mercer says: ‘”t was only after Jason’s death that I started looking into what smart motorways were and understand what they are. They are confusing, extremely dangerous and kill.”

“Highways England should be made to explain its actions or lack of action and the police should investigate the agency for corporate manslaughter.”