Recurance · prevention of future deaths reports
Pre-inquest brief
The earlier warning
Dev Naran · 14 Oct 2019 · Emma Brown, Birmingham and Solihull
“there is a 2.5 mile gap in the emergency refuge areas at this point; b) this section of the M6 is elevated and as such there is no land along the edge of the motorway to which occupants”
What was promised
Stated action 1 · response to Dev Naran (14 Oct 2019) · stated timescale: none stated
“The coroner concluded that there was no evidence of a fault with the vehicle, iliness of the driver, or a hazard in the road which caused the driver to stop in a clearly marked live running lane on a high-speed road. The reason the driver stopped on the M6 motorway was not established "as part of the coronial process.”
Stated action 2 · response to Jamil Ahmed (15 Nov 2019) · stated timescale: early 2020 to March 2021
“assist. We will be repeating our information campaigns on using motorways in four waves between early 2020 and March 2021. These will be focused on 'what to do in a breakdown', Red X, keeping left and variable speed limits.”
Stated action 3 · response to Alexandru Murgeanu and Jason Mercer (19 Jan 2021) · stated timescale: shortly
“Highways England will publish this report shortly”
1 further stated action is listed on the full chain page.
What recurred
- 15 Nov 2019 · Jamil Ahmed · James Bennett
- 19 Jan 2021 · Alexandru Murgeanu and Jason Mercer · David Urpeth
- 3 Mar 2021 · Zahid Ahmed · Tom Stoate · Closely related · confidence 0.86 (high)
- 21 Mar 2022 · Zoltan Torok · Ian Wade QC · Identical hazard · confidence 0.92 (high)
- 18 Apr 2023 · David Levett · Anne Pember · Identical hazard · confidence 0.95 (high)
- 17 Feb 2025 · Kevin O'Reilly · Emma Serrano · Closely related · confidence 0.90 (high)
The clearest link, quoted from both reports:
Earlier · Alexandru Murgeanu and Jason Mercer · 19 Jan 2021
“- The obvious and foreseeable risk posed by the absence of a hard shoulder on”
Later · David Levett · 18 Apr 2023
“THERE WAS NOWHERE FOR THE DRIVER OF THE FIRST VEHICLE TO PARK SAFELY”
What happened next
No evidence found either way · stated action 1
“Our ambition is that no-one should be harmed while travelling or working on our roads, which means that safety continues to be our number one priority.”
Smart motorways stocktake · nationalhighways.co.uk/…/cre24_0128-smart-motorways-stocktake-4…
“National Highways said it was "urgently investigating" the problem.”
Outage prompts investigation amid calls to axe smart motorways · bbc.com/news/uk-england-64732376
“How we support people travelling as pedestrians, by bike or by horse.”
Driving on motorways · nationalhighways.co.uk/…/driving-on-motorways
No evidence found does not mean the action did not happen.
No evidence found either way · stated action 2
“The NRSS outlines three core objectives-Safer People, Safer Roads, and Safer Vehicles-and emphasizes DOT's commitment to drive fatalities toward zero. We will achieve this by ensuring that truck drivers are appropriately licensed and qualified, designing roads that keep us both safe a”
National Roadway Safety Strategy 2026 · transportation.gov/…/USDOT-National-Roadway-Safety-Strategy-202…
“We set and manage variable speed limits (VSL) to look after your safety and to improve traffic flow on our roads.  Government and industry research has shown that the use of excessive speed on our motorways is common.”
Variable speed limits · nationalhighways.co.uk/…/variable-speed-limits
“We set variable speed limits to look after your safety and to improve traffic flow on motorways and major A roads. Average speed enforcement cameras around roadworks How we use cameras to detect vehicles exceeding the speed limit when an 'Average speed check' is in place.”
Driving on our roads · nationalhighways.co.uk/safety/driving-on-our-roads
No evidence found does not mean the action did not happen.
Evidence found · stated action 3
“Smart motorways stocktake Fourth year progress report: December 2024 Contents 03 Foreword 05 Executive summary 10 Smart motorway features 12 Stocktake action summary 19 Updated safety evidence 50 Conclusion 51 Annex A - Smart motorways map 52 Annex B - Methodology 93 Annex C - Detailed tables 94 Annex D - Detailed collision data 95 Annex E - Before versus after- Detailed tables Contents 96 Annex F”
Smart motorways stocktake · nationalhighways.co.uk/…/cre24_0128-smart-motorways-stocktake-4…
“National Highways publish Smart Motorways Stocktake - Third Year Progress Report In the third progress report since the 2020 Action Plan, National Highways confirm it has now delivered on all actions planned to be completed to date, and provided evidence that, in most cases, smart motorways are safer than the roads they replaced.”
National Highways publish Smart Motorways Stocktake · ciht.org.uk/…/national-highways-publish-smart-motorways-stockta…
No evidence found either way · stated action: “by the end of September 2022 SVD will be in place on every operational all lane running smart motorway”
“Fourth annual assessment of safety performance on the strategic road network 19 March 2026 Office of Rail and Road | Fourth annual assessment of safety performance on the strategic road network 2 Contents Executive summary 3 1. Safety performance on the strategic road network in 2024 11 2. Effectiveness and operation of the end-to-end safety systems on smart motorways 25 3. Smart motorways evidence”
Fourth annual assessment of safety performance on the ... · orr.gov.uk/media/28076/download
“Making journeys even safer with radar-based technology  ## What's happening We've upgraded motorways across the country with technology which detects stopped vehicles .”
Stopped vehicle detection upgrades · nationalhighways.co.uk/…/stopped-vehicle-detection-upgrades
“National Highways drops smart motorway safety option  By **[[name redacted]](/author/adaa7253-f1b6-4b77-96fd-32a9de208f02/chris-ames)** 22/11/2022 ## National”
National Highways drops smart motorway safety option · highwaysmagazine.co.uk/…/national-highways-drops-smart-motorway…
No evidence found does not mean the action did not happen.