Tattooist Jack Gallowtree raises awareness of ‘lethal’ smart motorways

That was the case at a tattoo parlour in Worcester today (Sunday) as people gathered at Circle of Swords in Trinity Street to get some ink to help raise funds for a campaign. That campaign is Smart Motorways Kill, which was set up to raise awareness of the dangers of smart motorways. Jack Gallowtree, a tattoo artist from Worcester, learned about the dangers of smart motorways when he was thrown from his motorbike in 2021 - leaving him with serious injuries.

In cooperation with the campaign, Mr Gallowtree christened the idea of a tattoo drop-in session where all funds raised go towards the Smart Motorways Kill campaign. "It was something I did to mark the anniversary of my crash and put a positive spin on it," said Mr Gallowtree. "I thought it was the best way to launch the campaign against smart motorways and raise money towards it."

Mr Gallowtree suffered serious injuries when he was thrown off his bike and over a barrier in April 2021. The idea of event was to raise awareness of the dangers smart motorways possess. "They are lethal," said Mr Gallowtree.

"The tech is useless, it never works and there's not enough people to monitor the cameras. "I want to prevent people from having a similar experience where there is a consistent hard shoulder on motorways because it's luck if you can access one." Mr Gallowtree suffered an engine failure while riding on southbound on the M6 between J18 and 19, but in his attempts to find a safe place to get out other motorists way, he was thrown over a barrier.

The crash left him with serious injuries, some of which he is still recovering from three years on. "If there was a hard shoulder it wouldn't have happened," he said. "We need to provide a consistent safe space.

"It's taken me two years to get to where I am, I had to learn to walk again. "Every step was agony so it was a miracle to step out of hospital without any pain." This year marks the second running of the event, which previously raised GBP3,000 in 2022.

People were seen queuing outside Circle of Swords before 11am to get their tattoo, where Mr Gallowtree and other tattoo artists were on hand to pencil ink on to their bodies. "However much we can make, whatever it is we're happy with. "It would be nice to get over the previous amount - it all helps.

"We've been busy this morning.

"We have four artists, who are all colleagues of mine.

"It's nice to have their support and they're all working on their day off and for free."