Police chief said manslaughter charges should be considered after smart motorway deaths

Nargis Begum, 62, was hit by a car after she broke down on a stretch of the M1 near Sheffield that had no hard shoulder in September 2018, and Jason Mercer, 44, and Alexandru Murgeanu, 22, were killed in a lorry crash after they stopped on a different stretch of the motorway in June 2019.

South Yorkshire Police conducted a "scoping exercise" after coroners raised safety concerns, but announced last month that the Government agency “cannot be held liable” because it “did not owe road users a relevant duty of care” under the terms of the Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Act 2007.

However, South Yorkshire Police and Crime Commissioner Alan Billings questioned police's decision, adding: “As a lay person, it does not seem right.”

“I can understand why such a duty might not apply to the existing motorway, but I cannot understand why there is no duty of care when the agency makes substantial, material changes to a motorway that introduce a danger that was not there before," he added.

“It seems to me that this would be in some ways analogous to saying that, when undertaking repairs, the agency had no duty of care to the workers on the site or the motorists who were passing by or those who subsequently drove there.

“I can’t believe this is the case. If the review of smart motorway safety currently being undertaken by the Government shows that safety has been compromised rather than improved by reconfiguring the motorways in this way, I have a feeling that the issue of ‘duty of care’ will be re-visited.”

Following Ms Begum's death, Doncaster coroner Nicola Mundy referred National Highways, then known as Highways England, to the Crown Prosecution Service to consider if corporate manslaughter charges are appropriate.

While Sheffield coroner David Urpeth decided that Mr Mercer and Mr Murgeanu were unlawfully killed and said "a lack of hard shoulder contributed to this tragedy”.

Nick Harris, National Highways chief executive, said: “Every death on our roads is a tragedy and our deepest sympathies remain with the families of Jason Mercer, Alexandru Murgeanu, and Nargis Begum.

“We care passionately about people using our network and we have committed to continue to make all A-roads and motorways as safe as they can possibly be."

In January, the Department for Transport said it would halt the expansion of the motorways – where the hard shoulder is converted into a permanent live traffic lane – until five years’ worth of data has been collected to assess whether or not they are safe for drivers.

The decision follows a recommendation by the Commons Transport Select Committee which said there was not enough safety and economic data to justify continuing with the project.

The Government has pledged to improve safety on existing all-lane-running motorways, but relatives of people who have died on the roads have urged Ministers to go further by reinstating the hard shoulder.