Lorry driver tells inquest he would have avoided killing two if there had been a hard shoulder

Smart motorways ‘present an ongoing risk of future deaths’, a coroner has concluded, following an inquest into the deaths of two men on a stretch of the M1 with no hard shoulder.

Sheffield coroner David Urpeth said the primary cause of death of Jason Mercer, 44, and Alexandru Murgeanu, 22, on the M1 in South Yorkshire in June 2019 was the careless driving of lorry driver Prezemyslaw Szuba.

Szuba, 40, ploughed into their vehicles as they stood stationary in lane one following a minor shunt.

But, recording a conclusion of unlawful killing, Mr Urpeth said: ‘I find, as a finding of fact, it is clear a lack of hard shoulder contributed to this tragedy.’

The coroner said he will be writing to Highways England and Secretary of State for Transport Grant Shapps recommending a review of smart motorways.

He told an inquest at Sheffield town hall: ‘I believe that smart motorways, as things currently stand, present an ongoing risk of future deaths.’ 

Sheffield coroner David Urpeth said the primary cause of death of Jason Mercer, 44, and Alexandru Murgeanu, 22, on the M1 in South Yorkshire (pictured, the aftermath of the scene) in June 2019 was the careless driving of lorry driver Prezemyslaw Szuba

Jason Mercer (left), 44, and Alexandru Murgeanu (right), 22, died when a lorry ploughed into their stationary vehicles on the M1 near Sheffield on June 7, 2019

Prezemyslaw Zbigniew Szuba, 40, admitted two counts of causing death by driving without due care and attention over the incident near Sheffield on June 7, 2019

Szuba was jailed for 10 months in October last year after admitting causing the deaths of Mr Mercer and Mr Murgeanu by careless driving.

Mr Mercer’s wife Claire (pictured) has mounted a prominent campaign against smart motorways, arguing that he would not have died if there had been a hard shoulder

Answering questions over the phone from prison, Szuba told the hearing he accepted he was driving without paying proper attention, telling a coroner: ‘I have already accepted that at my trial.’ 

But he told the inquest: ‘If there had been a hard shoulder on this bit of motorway, the collision would have been avoidable.

‘I would have driven past these two cars as it would be safer and they would have been able to come home safely and I would be able to come back home.’

Szuba told the inquest at Sheffield Town Hall he had only three to five seconds to react, and asked if he would have avoided the crash if he had been paying attention, he said: ‘It’s difficult to say after everything now.’

He also confirmed that he had no specific training in driving on a smart motorway.  

Sergeant Mark Brady, who oversees major collision investigations for South Yorkshire Police, told the hearing: ‘Had there been a hard shoulder, had Jason and Alexandru pulled on to the hard shoulder, my opinion is that Mr Szuba would have driven clean past them.’

Sheffield coroner David Urpeth said the primary cause of death of Jason Mercer (pictured with his wife Claire), 44, and Alexandru Murgeanu, 22, on the M1 in South Yorkshire in June 2019 was the careless driving of lorry driver Prezemyslaw Szuba

There are currently more than 20 sections of ‘smart motorways’ on seven different motorways 

But Sgt Brady accepted that the primary cause of the crash was Szuba’s inattention to the road.

The hearing heard how the tragedy happened on June 7, 2019, after a slight collision between a Ford Focus driven by Mr Mercer, from Rotherham, South Yorkshire, and a Ford Transit driven by Mr Murgeanu, who was living in Mansfield, Nottinghamshire, but was originally from Romania.

The two vehicles stopped in lane one of the four-lane motorway just north of junction 34, on the northbound carriageway, and both men had got out of their vehicles.

Coroner David Urpeth was told the vehicles had been stationary for about six minutes when they were hit by Szuba’s Mercedes lorry, which was travelling at a speed-regulated 56mph.

Mr Mercer’s wife Claire, who has been a prominent campaigner against smart motorways since her husband’s death, watched proceedings in court with her legal team.