Zoltan Torok
21 Mar 2022 · Coroner Ian Wade QC · Berkshire
This report repeats 4 earlier warnings, and was raised again 1 time later. See the linked reports.
The coroner's concerns
1. broken down vehicle in running lane
“the collision would not have occurred if the broken down Land Rover had been able to pull out of the running lane into a refuge or onto a traditional hard shoulder”
2. mixing smart and traditional motorways
“the policy of mixing smart motorways with traditional hard shoulder motorways created a latent risk that road users will become accustomed to treating the left or inner lane of motorways as a live running lane even when it remains a conventional hard shoulder”
3. stranded vehicle occupants near lane
“The hazard created for moving traffic by the obstruction of the stranded vehicle was compounded by the unexpected proximity of the occupants from the stranded vehicle standing immediately next to the running lane,”
4. sudden lane blockage without refuge
“The essential purpose of a motorway as a multi-lane high speed direct communication between locations likely to be long distances apart is both undermined, and has a tendency to potentiate risks to road users, if the running lanes are liable suddenly and unexpectedly to become blocked in a dynamic situation, with no refuge available to the stranded vehicle”
Linked reports
Closely relatedConfidence 0.80 · moderate
Earlier report
“Vehicles stopping in live lanes of a motorway create a risk to life due to the speed of the traffic approaching, the difficulty approaching drivers will have in identifying that a vehicle in the lane ahead of them is stationary”
This report
“The essential purpose of a motorway as a multi-lane high speed direct communication between locations likely to be long distances apart is both undermined, and has a tendency to potentiate risks to road users, if the running lanes are liable suddenly and unexpectedly to become blocked in a dynamic situation, with no refuge available to the stranded vehicle.”
Closely relatedConfidence 0.85 · high
Earlier report
“when a hard shoulder is used as a running lane. Whilst any vehicle may break down on any road, in relation to motorways:”
This report
“(1) On the date of the death the particular section of the M4 motorway was not completed as a smart motorway, but was substantially in course of conversion such that to all intents and purposes it had the intended characteristics of a smart motorway”
Closely relatedConfidence 0.90 · high
Earlier report
“- The obvious and foreseeable risk posed by the absence of a hard shoulder on smart motorways;”
This report
“the policy of mixing smart motorways with traditional hard shoulder motorways created a latent risk that road users will become accustomed to treating the left or inner lane of motorways as a live running lane”
Identical hazardConfidence 0.92 · high
Earlier report
“absence of a hard shoulder contributed to the collision. Had the [deceased's] vehicle been able to stop in a location other that a live lane”
This report
“the collision would not have occurred if the broken down Land Rover had been able to pull out of the running lane into a refuge or onto a traditional hard shoulder”
Identical hazardConfidence 0.90 · high
This report
“there was no run-off lane or safety lane or hard shoulder, but all lanes were running lanes.”
Later report
“THERE WAS NOWHERE FOR THE DRIVER OF THE FIRST VEHICLE TO PARK SAFELY e.g.. ON A HARD SHOULDER.”
Responses
2022-0088-Response-from-Smart-Motorways.pdf ↗· National Highways
Stated action · by the end of September 2022
“by the end of September 2022 SVD will be in place on every operational all lane running smart motorway”