Accident on a Smart Motorway compensation claim

Smart Motorways have been in the news a lot recently and are quite controversial.

The original standard UK motorway design was to have 2 or 3 lanes in each direction separated by a central reservation. To the left of lane 1, sometimes referred to as the “Slow Lane” (where in fact traffic may be proceeding at a not very slow 70 mph) is the hard shoulder. However, on a so-called Smart Motorway, the hard shoulder is converted to be an extra lane. The purpose of the hard shoulder was to be somewhere vehicles could stop in an emergency or on vehicle breakdown if it was not possible to keep driving to the next exit.

Smart Motorways are said to be “smart” because a combination of CCTV cameras and lane indicators on gantries enable the managers of the motorway to shut a lane by putting a large red X above that lane.

So far so good, but what happens if a car breaks down on a motorway and there is no hard shoulder? Well, every 500-800 metres or so there are refuges that drivers can pull in to.

So that’s alright then, isn’t it? Well, no, not if your car breaks down and you cannot make it to the next refuge. All you can do is pull over as far to the left as you can and hope.

A car breaks down on a smart motorway

That is what happened to our client. He had bought a second-hand car that day and was driving in convoy back with his friend when his new car broke down. His friend had driven him to collect the car and they were driving back home. When the car broke down, he could not make it to the next refuge and so his car stopped in lane 1. Once upon a time, that lane was the hard shoulder but not anymore. Traffic was coming up behind him. 

The 2 men got out of their cars. Our client then realised that he had left his phone in the car. He got back in to the car to retrieve his phone. Meanwhile, his friend was in the road between the 2 cars.

At that moment a vehicle came up from behind and struck the rear of our client’s new car shunting it forward into his friend’s car. Both men were injured.

The claim was made on behalf of both men against the driver of the car behind who had failed to notice that there was a car which was stationary in front of her. She should, of course, like all drivers on the motorway, have expected the unexpected and been ready to stop. The claims of both men are being dealt with by her insurers.

Legal help for serious injury

Commenting on the case, Tim Beasley, Head of Catastrophic Injury at Levenes solicitors said as follows:-

“In terms of legal liability this case is simple – the driver who hit the car in front was to blame. However, I cannot help but ask myself why so much faith is put in motorists by the designers of motorways. The truth is that collisions on motorways are very common, and cars even on the hard shoulder are hit all the time by inattentive drivers. Meanwhile we spend billions of pounds saying ‘one more lane will solve this congestion problem’ only to find that the motorways are just as congested as ever. Perhaps it is time to rethink how we do things”.

In 2020, the AA instructed its patrolmen not to stop to assist stranded motorists on smart motorways. Cases like that of our clients show how you can be a sitting duck in the unfortunate situation.

Accident compensation claims

Seeking the expert advice of a specialist road collision lawyer can be crucial in ensuring that your claim goes smoothly and that you get the support you need to recover from your injuries.

You can trust in the experience and knowledge of our team of professional injury lawyers to ensure that you receive the maximum amount of compensation that you are entitled to.

Get in touch today and find out within 1 hour if you have a claim. Call us on 0800 048 2355 or request a call back now.