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Investigation and inquest
On the 27ᵗʰ June 2019, investigations into the deaths of JASON LEE MERCER AND ALEXANDRU MURGEANU commenced. The investigations concluded at the end of the joint inquest on 18.1.21. The conclusions were unlawful killing, copies attached.
Circumstances of the death
On 7.6.19 a minor collision in the outside lane occurred between vehicles drive by Mr Mercer and Mr Murgeanu on the M1 Northbound between Junctions 34 and 35. This section of the M1 is an “all lane running” motorway, commonly referred to as a “Smart Motorway”.
The drivers pulled over to the left lane to exchange details. They stopped in what was an active lane even though a “refuge” was available a mile further up the road.
About 6 minutes later, after other vehicles had managed, albeit with some difficulty, to avoid their parked vehicles, they were struck by a Mercedes Goods Vehicle. Both Mr Mercer and Mr Murgeanu died at the scene.
Whilst the main cause of the tragedy was the careless driving of the driver of Mercedes goods vehicle, the inquest heard and accepted evidence that the lack of a hard shoulder due to the road being a smart motorway contributed to their deaths.
Coroner’s concerns
• The obvious and foreseeable risk posed by the absence of a hard shoulder on smart motorways;
• The confusion caused to motorists posed by a mixture of smart motorways and traditional motorways
• The need for better driver awareness on the use of smart motorways
• The need to for Highways England to be better able to identify stationary vehicles
• The need for better driver awareness of the need, where possible, to get over the crash barrier on all motorways, not just smart motorways
• The need for a wider review / inquiry into Smart Motorways for the following reasons:
○ Coroners only conduct inquests for deaths that occur in their coronial area ( unless there is a body transfer ) and given smart motorways exist across England and Wales, coroners do not and cannot have an effective and consistent overview of the whole of England and Wales
○ An inquest is confined to consider the facts insofar as they relate to the death(s) before him or her in order to answer the four statutory questions. It must not consider wider issues.
○ An inquest cannot say what government policy should be
○ A wider review would not be constrained by the above and could consider all issues relevant to its remit and has the opportunity thereby of saving lives.
Information checked against the published report and official responses