Sunak under pressure to BAN smart motorways after ruling that hard …
Sunak under mounting pressure to BAN smart motorways after coroner rules disabled man with cerebral palsy may still be alive if controversial roads had hard shoulders
- David Levett was a rear seat passenger when his carer’s stationary car was hit
- His sister Angela Mower called the PM to halt the rollout of smart motorways
By David Churchill Chief Political Correspondent[1]
Published: 00:41, 15 April 2023 | Updated: 00:45, 15 April 2023
Rishi Sunak[2] was last night under mounting pressure to ban smart motorways[3] after a coroner ruled a disabled man may still be alive if the controversial roads had a hard shoulder.
David Levett, 53, who had cerebral palsy, was a rear seat passenger when his carer’s stationary Seat Leon was smashed into from behind by a lorry on a stretch of the M1 converted into ‘all-lane running’ – meaning there was no hard shoulder.
His sister Angela Mower, 57, called on Mr Sunak to halt the rollout of smart motorways.
She said: ‘The government needs to look into these because people are still dying. Highways England keep reassuring everyone they are safe but clearly they are not.’
An inquest at The Guildhall coroner’s court, Northampton, heard Mr Levett’s carer had stopped on the inside lane to help his brother-in-law whose Volvo had broken down.
Rishi Sunak was last night under mounting pressure to ban smart motorways after a coroner ruled a disabled man may still be alive if the controversial roads had a hard shoulder
Mr Sunak pledged to ban the ‘unsafe’ smart motorways from being built during the Tory leadership race, but is yet to act. Pictured: The M25 at Egham, Surrey
He intended to drive him to safety, but a HGV ploughed into the back of the Seat as they climbed into it.
Mr Levett died after surgery following the crash on January 28, 2018. Senior coroner Anne Pember told the hearing: ‘If the hard shoulder had been available… it’s quite possible that David Levett would not have died.’
Mr Levett’s carer and his brother-in-law recovered from their injuries.
The lorry driver was charged with causing death by dangerous driving, but fled to his home country of Turkey.
Mrs Mower added: ‘Do foreign lorry drivers even know about smart motorways?
I suspect they have no idea.’ The inquest heard that Stationary Vehicle Detection, which notifies control room staff of a broken down vehicle so they can close the lane, had not been installed at the time.
Mr Sunak pledged to ban the ‘unsafe’ smart motorways from being built during the Tory leadership race, but is yet to act.
It is understood that following Cabinet discussions an announcement on banning them could come as early as next week.
National Highways said it has ‘committed GBP900million to safety improvements’.
References
- ^ David Churchill Chief Political Correspondent (www.dailymail.co.uk)
- ^ Rishi Sunak (www.dailymail.co.uk)
- ^ smart motorways (www.dailymail.co.uk)