Smart Motorways Kill: Campaign group to unveil giant display of messages about danger of smart motorways

A display is coming to Rotherham made of messages from the public on how 'SMART' motorways have affected their lives or contributed to the deaths of loved ones.

The exhibition by Smart Motorways Kill is made of messages and responses received by the campaign group in the last two years over how removing the hard shoulder from some of England’s busiest highways has impacted people for the worse. The group says the messages run into the thousands.

From worrying about “who to grab first” in the event of a breakdown to feeling discriminated against due to being disabled, the campaign group says the exhibit shows the strength of feeling there is about smart motorways. The group says the number of messages has only increased over the years.

The messages will be sorted into sections, from calling for “those responsible [to face] charges,” to the burning desire to “use our vote” against the scheme.

“The government don’t care” is reportedly one of the largest sections.

All these messages from people who are angry, let down and sometimes scared, injured and/or bereaved by incidents on Smart motorways will be on display at Rotherham Titans Rugby ground, Clifton Lane, from 10am to 3pm on July 4, where the exhibit will “span several rugby pitches.”

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Smart Motorways Kill was founded by Claire Mercer, who in June 2019 lost her husband Jason in an incident on the M1 where he and another man, Alexandru Murgreanu, 22, of Mansfield, were killed.

Now, she has created the exhibition in a call for the public to think of her group’s work during the next general election.

Claire said: “I had to limit the date range to just the last two years because the number of messages sent and still coming in would make gathering and displaying of all this impossible.

“The sheer scale of less than half the total messages surprised even me and I’m the one they were sent to. I started by flicking through as many emails and messages as possible and picking out common themes, they ranged from “Boycott the first lane” to details of the many, many terrifying  experiences people had on smart motorways.

“We’ve had years and years of reports, investigations, stock takes and committees. It’s time to  show the government the full picture of how the public feel about these motorways at the only time the government will care - election time.”

Claire says she spent many months at her kitchen table gathering information for the display together - before having to appeal for volunteers to help with the volume of messages.

The display now spans “the length of several rugby pitches” to show how “it’s not just that we don’t feel safe on smart motorways, it’s that we aren’t safe on smart motorways.”