Rotherham campaigner calls for 'transparency' from the government over smart motorways
Claire Mercer says there's been too many delays in the release of smart motorway impact reports
A Rotherham campaigner - who wants smart motorways to be banned - says the road network is a 'disaster waiting to happen'.
Claire Mercer's husband - Jason - was killed on a stretch of smart motorway in South Yorkshire back in 2019.
She's leading a protest outside the Department for Transport today from 12.15pm - & is calling for a return of the hard shoulder on all motorways:
"It's going to be the Grenfell of the roads.
"What if it's a coach full of school kids that crashes?
"What are you going to do with about 50 or 60 different school kids running in every direction without anywhere safe to go?
"It'll end up being an incident like that what fully brings an end to smart motorways.
"It just seems absolutely mad to be me that the government have decided smart motorways are too dangerous to keep building - but we're okay to keep using the ones we have?
"This campaign has been something to keep me distracted and get me up in a morning.
"The actual physical impact of grief changes you as a person."
In 2023 - the government confirmed it wouldn't be going ahead with any future smart motorway projects.