We are regularly instructed to advise drivers and passengers who have been injured in road traffic accidents, often seriously. The most recent statistics available show that 1,752 people were killed on the UK’s roads in 2019.

If you use the M62 or M6 on a regular basis you will probably have become used to the ongoing speed restrictions and roadworks in place to enable these motorways to be upgraded to ‘smart’ motorways. A smart motorway uses various different ways to try to control traffic and manage congestion. Often this involves using the hard shoulder, originally intended to be a safe lane for stationary vehicles, as an active lane. There is growing concern about this.

In June 2019 two men were tragically killed on the hard shoulder of a ‘smart’ stretch of the M1 in Yorkshire when a lorry crashed into them. Although the lorry driver was convicted of causing death by careless driving at the recent inquest into the deaths the coroner also raised concerns about the safety of smart motorways which have no hard shoulder as a refuge. He is referring his concerns to Highways England and the Yorkshire Police and Crime Commissioner has also written to Grant Schapps, the Secretary of State for Transport. Let’s hope that measures designed to improve safety don’t turn out to have the opposite effect.

The contents of this article do not constitute legal advice and are provided for general information purposes only.

The contents of this post do not constitute legal advice and are provided for general information purposes only ■