Campaigner whose young son died on smart motorway welcomes rollout pause
Meera Naran said the halted expansion would give time to ‘reassess’ the smart motorway network.
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Your support makes all the difference.A mother who lost her son in a collision has said she welcomes a pause in the smart motorway rollout but has vowed to continue campaigning until there are zero deaths on the roads.
Meera Naran said the halted expansion would give time to “reassess” the smart motorway network and the network “as a whole” as there are “risks and benefits” to both smart motorways and conventional motorways with hard shoulders.
Her eight-year-old son Dev died on a hard shoulder after a lorry struck his grandfather’s Toyota Yaris on the M6 in May 2018.
Since his death, she has campaigned in his memory and was awarded an MBE in June last year for her services to road safety.
Ms Naran told the PA news agency: “I welcome the pause in the rollout of smart motorways, I think it’s going to give us time to reassess the smart motorway network, also reassess the network as a whole.
“There are risks with smart roadways and benefits as well, but there are also risks and benefits with conventional motorways with hard shoulders and I think it’ll give us a real opportunity to look at both.”
Becoming emotional as she spoke about her son, she added: “We always believed in making change for the good. That was always our motto and it continues to be my motto.
“I campaign in Dev’s memory and his name. He wanted to be a doctor and save lives and I’m campaigning for road safety and I only can hope and pray it will also save lives as well.”
The Department for Transport has also committed £900 million on existing all-lane-running (ALR) motorways, including £390 million to install 150 more emergency areas.
The university lecturer said she was pleased to see the commitment to the emergency refuge areas, as she has been campaigning for that since day one, and the additional technology which detects stopped vehicles.
“In addition to that, I have proposed some additional changes,” she said.
“One being a change in legislation around autonomous emergency braking, which is also called AEB, and I’ve also proposed for that to be called Dev’s Law.
“With the autonomous emergency braking system, that would save so many lives going forward. This is not just about smart motorways anymore, it’s about all roads and every life matters on our roads.
“I will not see a victory until we have zero deaths on our roads. Whether that (means) I campaign for the rest of my life, so be it.”
Responding to the £900 million pledge, she said: “It’s been incredibly emotional losing Dev, it’s so hard. There’s no words to ever explain how that feels. Campaigning through grief is no easy task either.
“However, in 2020 when I proposed 19 policy changes, there was some reassurance with the 18-point action plan, which implemented 18 out of my 19 proposals with a £500 million commitment.
“To see this additional amount being added to a total of nearly £900 million is absolutely welcome and I think it’s really reassuring.”