Leicester mother whose son died on smart motorway welcomes pause

Meera Naran's son Dev died when the car he was in was hit by a lorry while stopped on the M6 hard shoulder

A campaigner whose son was killed on a smart motorway has welcomed a pause in the government's roll out of the new roads.

Dev Naran, eight, was killed in May 2018 after a lorry struck his grandfather's car on the hard shoulder of the M6, which was being used by moving traffic.

His mother Meera, from Leicester, is now a prominent road safety campaigner.

The government said it was pausing new "all-lane running" motorways.

This will allow it to study five years of safety and economic information for the motorways built before 2020.

The government previously planned to make all future smart motorways "all-lane running"

Ms Naran said: "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."

There are various types of smart motorways which aim to ease congestion by better controlling traffic and opening up lanes.

But critics say the schemes can leave cars stranded in fast-moving traffic.

Ms Naran has earned an MBE for her road safety campaigning

The Department for Transport has also committed to spending £900 million on existing all-lane running motorways, including £390 million to install 150 more emergency areas.

Ms Naran, a university lecturer, welcomed this pledge.

But she added: "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."