A coroner has slammed a smart motorway after a father-of-four was killed riding his motorcycle into a stationary vehicle that had become stranded on the inside lane of the M4.
Zoltan Torok, a 42-year-old engineer, suffered ‘multiple catastrophic injuries’ when he struck a broken down grey Land Rover Discovery stuck in the ‘inner slow lane’ close to Junction 6 of the motorway near Slough, Berkshire, on May 7 last year.
The Land Rover became stuck in an area that was being converted into a smart motorway and, as a result, there was ‘no hard shoulder or safety lane to its nearside’.
A coroner has slammed a smart motorway after a father-of-four was killed riding his motorcycle into a stationary vehicle that had become stranded on the inside lane of the M4.
Zoltan Torok, a 42-year-old engineer, suffered ‘multiple catastrophic injuries’ when he struck a broken down grey Land Rover Discovery stuck in the ‘inner slow lane’ close to Junction 6 of the motorway near Slough, Berkshire, on May 7 last year.
The Land Rover became stuck in an area that was being converted into a smart motorway and, as a result, there was ‘no hard shoulder or safety lane to its nearside’.
Smart motorways have their hard shoulders scrapped and converted into an extra lane - meaning motorists can become marooned in fast-moving traffic. If a car breaks down, the gantries above should instead show a red X signalling the lane is closed
But a police collision investigator told an inquest into Mr Torok’s death at Reading Town Hall last week that the fatal crash would not have taken place if there had been a ‘traditional hard shoulder’ on the M4.
An ‘experienced mechanical engineer’ also highlighted the risk to drivers who ‘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’.
Assistant Area Coroner Ian Wade QC has now penned a report to Highways England maligning the smart motorway for contributing to the death of the motorcyclist, citing concerns that similar fatal crashes will occur if changes are not made immediately.
His prevention of future death report follows in the steps of four coroners who raised concerns last year that scrapping the hard shoulder to create a fourth lane risks more people dying - with at least 38 lives being lost on smart motorways between 2015 and 2020.
The inquest heard Mr Torok was driving his black Honda motorcycle at a lawful speed on the M4 westbound in the inner slow lane at around 3pm.
This stretch of the M4 was under construction to be converted to a smart motorway, but ‘to all intents and purposes it had the intended characteristics of a smart motorway’.
Specifically, this meant there was ‘no run-off lane or safety lane or hard shoulder, but all lanes were running lanes’.
Instead, a ‘solid continuous concrete wall’ ran along the inside of the inner slow lane.
A Land Rover ‘suffered an unexpected and inexplicable mechanical defect rendering it not possible for it to proceed to a refuge’, but instead had to come to a stop in the inner lane just short of the exit slip road at Junction 6.
The driver and passenger of the vehicle were able to leave the vehicle and find safety beyond the roadside barrier.
However, their presence standing at the side of the motorway ‘momentarily distracted Zoltan’s attention from the road ahead’.
He crashed into the rear of the stationary Land Rover without decreasing his speed and was pronounced dead at the scene.
Highlighting four areas of concern that must be addressed by Highways England, Mr Wade said: ‘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, specifically that there was no run-off lane or safety lane or hard shoulder, but all lanes were running lanes.
‘The edge of the near side of the inner lane was a solid continuous concrete wall.
‘The inquest heard evidence from the police collision investigator that 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.’
Highlighting a second area of concern, the coroner said the hazard created by the broken down vehicle was ‘compounded by the unexpected proximity of the occupants standing immediately next to the running lane’.
Although they were on the safe side of the barrier, Mr Wade said the presence of stranded motorists roadside is likely to be distracting for drivers travelling at a ‘typical and lawful speed’ and, on the evidence heard at the inquest, ‘was a distraction to the deceased’.
He also referenced evidence given by a mechanical engineer with over 40 years’ experience in the motor industry.
The expert said the policy of mixing smart motorways with with traditional hard shoulder motorways ‘created a latent risk that road users will become accustomed to treating the inner lane of motorways as a live running lane even when it remains a conventional hard shoulder’.
They added that road users who break down are at risk even if they follow guidelines and pull into the inside lane.
In a final point, Mr Wade added: ‘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.’
It follows official figures published in September last year showing that death rates on smart motorways are up to a third higher than on those with a hard shoulder.