Nargis Begum · Prevention of Future Deaths report

On 11ᵗʰ September 2018 I commenced an investigation into the death of Nargis Begum, age 62. The investigation concluded at the end of the inquest on 9ᵗʰ September 2022. The conclusion of the inquest was Road Traffic Collision.

On the 9ᵗʰ September 2018, Nargis Begum was a front seat passenger in a vehicle being driven by her husband. They were travelling in a homerward bound direction along the northbound M1 motorway which includes a stretch of All Lanes Running SMART motorway.

The vehicle had been MOT'd and serviced and was not known to have any mechanical defects. Shortly after passing a service station, the vehicle began to lose power and despite the efforts of the driver continued to lose power before coming to a halt in the live running lane.

The driver pulled the vehicle as far as possible to the left hand side but the offside wheels of the vehicle remained over the white line and were in the running lane (Lane 1). Although Mrs Begum exited the vehicle, she was physically incapable of climbing over the barrier and thus rested on the barrier in close proximity to the stationary vehicle.

Some 16 minutes and 21 seconds elapsed before a Mercedes motor vehicle travelling in lane 1 crashed into the rear of the stationary vehicle causing this to collide with Mrs Begum and the injuries she received as a consequence proved to be rapidly fatal.

153 drivers had passed the stationary vehicle and none had alerted Highways England /National Highways or any of the emergency services. One of the witnesses that I had heard from said that he and his passenger had discussed calling National Highways but he reached the view that given the presence of cameras on the motorway, the stationary vehicle would be detected by the cameras.

I also heard evidence regarding the rollout of stationary vehicle detection technology On all All Lane Running motorways by the end of September 2022 and it was anticipated that 80% plus of stationary vehicles would be detected by this technology in a timely fashion.

(1) The lack of public understanding regarding the need for them to call National Highways should they identify a problem on the motorway network such as a stationary vehicle.
(2) Despite television, radio and social media campaigns regarding SMART motorways, the lack of emphasis on the importance of road users responsibility to alert the authorities to any such problems.
(3) Despite public information referred to during the course of the evidence, the above message does not appear to have been a priority and does not appear to have effectively reached the public.