A motorist died in an accident after breaking down on a smart motorway that lacked life-saving technology nearly five years after it opened.
Road officials are being questioned about whether the M1 disaster could have been avoided if stopped vehicle detection (SVD) devices had been installed earlier.
The technology has been deployed at the scene of the crash, but it is not yet operational. National Highways stated that more testing is required before it can go operational.
The stretch in Northamptonshire opened in November 2017, although SVD installation only began in October of last year. Despite the roads agency promising MPs in 2016 that all smart motorways would be equipped with SVD and operational within a few years, this has not happened.
The SVD system is intended to warn traffic authorities and CCTV operators to vehicles stuck in traffic, which is common on ‘all lane running’ (ALR) motorways where the hard shoulder is permanently removed.
A man in his 40s was killed between junctions 16 and 17 on the M1 early Monday after his Mercedes broke down on the inside lane.
At roughly 3.16 a.m., a Toyota Previa collided with the rear of the Mercedes, injuring four more.
The Mail received an internal National Highways operations log that details how the event occurred.
It says ‘we were unaware of the vehicle at the time it occurred so no [safety] signs and signals were present’ and adds there were ‘a number of near misses’ before the crash.
The accident occurred while three National Highways chiefs received bonuses totaling £60,000 the previous year. Chief executive Nick Harris received a £20,000 bonus, bringing his total salary for 2021-22 to £355,124, whereas his predecessor received a £20,000 bonus despite stepping down a year earlier amid criticism over the implementation of smart motorways.
Vanessa Howlison, chief financial officer, was also given a £20,000 bonus.