Nick Harris pledges lessons must be learned after M1 Smart Motoway crash inquest.

Nick Harris pledges lessons must be learned after M1 Smart Motoway crash inquest finds that deaths were avoidable.

Derek Jacobs, 83, and Charles Scripps, 78, both died after their vehicles collided on a smart motorway in Sheffield. Jean Scripps, who was driving the vehicle that collided with Mr Jacobs's van, was said to have been "not paying attention to the road".

Derek Jacobs, 83, died when his van was hit by a car on the M1 near Sheffield in 2019.

He had stopped in the live inside lane after a blown tyre, and had remained stationary there for three minutes and 34 seconds before his vehicle was hit by a red Ford KA, driven by Jean Scripps.

Mrs Scripps' husband, who was in the passenger seat of the vehicle, died aged 78 in hospital, two months after the collision.

Speaking at Chesterfield Coroner's Court, assistant coroner Susan Evans said

"It is evident Mrs Scripps simply did not see the stationary van before she collided with it," she added. "For reasons we will never know, she appeared to have not been paying attention to the road."

Collision investigator Sergeant Paul Moorcroft agreed it was "highly unlikely" the crash would have happened had been a hard shoulder.

But he added Mrs Scripps had plenty of time to avoid the obstruction, as many other drivers did.

He said retired teacher Mrs Scripps, who was 77 at the time, was diagnosed with dementia six months after the crash but there were no medical notes to suggest she should not have been driving.

The collision is one of three on a 10-mile stretch of the M1 which have been highlighted by campaigners who want smart motorwaysstopped and hard shoulders restored.

Simon Boyle, regional director for National Highways in Yorkshire and the North East, told the inquest the area is now covered by technology to detect stationary vehicles, which was not installed at the time of the collision.

National Highways chief executive Nick Harris added: "It is vitally important to learn lessons from every road traffic collision and we will continue to build on the work and safety improvements already under way."

Roads minister Richard Holden was today challenged about a coroner's verdict this week,

Mr Holden told Sky News: 'That's exactly the reason we're pausing them (smart motorways) is to see overall what the impact is. We need to get that data.'

'The key thing is the Government has accepted there are issues here, which is why we've paused the scheme.

'We're also putting £900million in to retro-fit the smart motorway network, tackling some of the issues such as those refuge areas - putting those in right across the entire smart motorway network at the moment.

'That's why, overall, we're having that proper pause to look at what more can be done.