Growing calls for smart motorways to be scrapped in South Yorkshire after another serious collision on M1

MPs have spoken out following the latest crash on Friday, February 12, which involved an HGV and a car which had broken down on the motorway between Sheffield and Chesterfield where the hard shoulder had been removed to create an extra lane.

On this occasion, police said the man’s injuries were not believed to be life-threatening, but the crash was not far from where Sheffield grandmother Nargis Begum ded in September 2018 and Jason Mercer and Alexandru Murgeanu lost their lives in 2019.

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A coroner concluded last month that the lack of a hard shoulder had contributed to the deaths of Mr Mercer and Mr Murgeanu.

Another coroner only last week asked the Crown Prosecution Service to consider whether Highways England – which runs the nation’s motorways – should face corporate manslaughter charges over Mrs Begum’s death amid concerns about the monitoring of cameras on smart motorways.

Her comments prompted South Yorkshire Police and Crime Commissioner Dr Alan Billings to call again for a rethink over smart motorways, saying ‘something is seriously wrong’.

Following Friday’s crash, on the northbound carriageway between junctions 30 and 31, MPs and members of the public have demanded action before more lives are lost.

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Clive Betts, MP for Sheffield South East, said: “I just feel smart motorways are inherently unsafe, for all the Government’s talk about improvements, because of the lack of a hard shoulder.

"Fortunately I’ve never broken down on a smart motorway but if I did I would be really worried.

"Smart motorways are just a way of adding an extra lane on the cheap and they need to be suspended immediately, with the hard shoulder restored.”

Sheffield Heeley MP Louise Haigh said: "The distressing news of the accident on the M1 on Friday has made it abundantly clear, once again, that the government needs to readdress the safety of smart motorways.

"The government has been repeatedly warned that smart motorways are not fit for purpose and that the roll-out should be brought to an immediate halt.”

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Rotherham MP Sarah Champion said: “While it is not yet clear what role, if any, the removal of the hard shoulder played in this incident, I have for a number of years raised serious concerns that smart motorways are fundamentally unsafe.

"I remain gravely concerned that the removal of the hard shoulder from motorways places lives at risk.

"I have raised this with the government time and time again, but they continue to gamble with the lives of motorists by pressing ahead with these dangerous roads.”

Many Star readers have taken to social media calling for the hard shoulder to be restored following the latest crash.

One branded them ‘death traps’, another called them a ‘shocking idea’ and a third said they were a ‘big mistake’ which was ‘putting lives in danger’.

The Department for Transport said last week that since taking office Mr Shapps had committed £500 million to safety improvements on smart motorways and had ‘pressed Highways England to further accelerate work in certain areas’.

Highways England said it was aware of the incident but as it is subject to a police investigation, it would not be appropriate for it to comment further.