May/June Issue 61 - Flipbook - Page 14
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NEWS
HIGHWAYS ENGLAND MANSLAUGHTER CHARGE
FOR SMART MOTORWAY DEATH
Highways England could be charged
with manslaughter following the death
of a 62-year-old woman on a stretch of
smart motorway.
plus a further six minutes before warning
signs telling other drivers not to use the
lane in which the Nissan was located were
activated.
A coroner investigating the death has
said she may refer the case to the Crown
Prosecution Service to consider if the
charges are appropriate.
At a pre-inquest review Mundy said: “I want
to know why, essentially, it’s as simple as
that.”
Nargis Begum, from Sheffield, was killed
on the M1 in South Yorkshire in September
2018 when another vehicle collided with
her husband’s Nissan Qashqai, which had
broken down.
Begum had exited the Nissan, which was
stranded in a live lane, and was waiting for
help when the incident happened.
The smart motorway section had no hard
shoulder.
More than 16 minutes elapsed between the
Nissan breaking down and the collision,
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The case, at Doncaster Coroner’s Court,
was adjourned until February 11 to allow
Government lawyers time to prepare a
response
The CPS has decided against prosecuting
the driver who hit the Nissan.
series of measures to improve the safety
of smart motorways, following a review
commissioned by Transport Secretary Grant
Shapps.
Analysis commissioned by the Transport
Secretary reportedly found that “in most
Mundy added that she was also considering ways”, smart motorways are as safe as, or
safer than, conventional ones.
whether to refer this decision back to the
CPS based on the evidence she had seen.
There was also an admission that some
Almost 40 people have been killed on smart risks are higher than on conventional
motorways, for example the risk of a
motorways in the last five years.
collision between a moving and stationary
vehicle.
In March, the Government announced a
