Terrified National Highways staff have accused bosses of ‘recklessly and negligently’ rolling out flawed technology that is putting lives at risk, the Daily Mail can reveal.
In a scathing email to hundreds of staff, an operator warned it is ‘only a matter of time until someone is seriously hurt or killed as a direct result’ of the chaotic system.
National Highways has introduced a new multi-million-pound programme called Charm in several of its regional control centres.
But the operator warned the technology is so riddled with problems that it is like ‘being forced to do our job blindfolded with both arms tied behind our back’.
In the blistering email, seen by the Mail, he complained of ‘unusable CCTV’ cameras. He said they have poor image quality, frequently freeze, and react slowly when operators try to find out what is happening.
Terrified National Highways staff have accused bosses of ‘recklessly and negligently’ rolling out flawed technology that is putting lives at risk, the Daily Mail can reveal. A couple (pictured) have revealed their grandchild is still traumatised after their car broke down and crashed on one of the most lethal stretches of smart motorway.
In another accident, a former male model (pictured) who suffered devastating injuries when his motorbike lost power on a smart motorway wants the ‘murderous’ roads to be axed. Jack Gallowtree had to have emergency surgery to rebuild his leg and was told it would be amputated if his body rejected a skin graft from his arm.
In a scathing email to hundreds of staff, an operator warned it is ‘only a matter of time until someone is seriously hurt or killed as a direct result’ of the chaotic system. In the blistering email, seen by the Mail, he complained of ‘unusable CCTV’ cameras.
He also criticised the Dynac system – used to close lanes, set speed limits and warn motorists of breakdowns – for being ‘painfully slow’, further delaying measures to protect drivers.
In the email, titled ‘Something needs to be done’, sent to all staff and managers in his West Midlands region, he wrote: ‘Over the years we have complained and complained about the poor state of technology and yet nothing gets done.
‘There needs to be dramatic change in the way Highways manages its technology instead of the passive “let’s wait until it sets on fire or someone dies” approach we adopt now.’
He added he has ‘never seen [staff] morale as low or stress levels as high’. The operator monitors a stretch of smart motorway on the M6 near Birmingham, where eight-year-old Dev Naran was killed on a hard shoulder running as a live lane.
A recent undercover investigation by the Mail exposed a litany of failures at the heart of the roads agency tasked with keeping the public safe. We revealed that one in ten cameras was broken, misted-up or facing the wrong way during an audit on September 17.
Faulty, outdated computer hardware dating back to 2004 was in use and software went down several times in the six weeks that an undercover reporter spent working at one of six control centres. Boris Johnson ordered a ‘thorough’ investigation into the Mail’s revelations but the Department for Transport has refused to share the initial findings.
There were 53 deaths on smart motorways in the four years to 2019 – at least 18 blamed to some degree on the roads.
Last night, MPs and relatives of victims killed on the ‘death-trap’ roads branded the revelations ‘stomach churning’ and called for the immediate reinstatement of the hard shoulder.
Claire Mercer, who founded campaign group Smart Motorways Kill after her husband Jason, 44, died on a section of the M1 with no hard shoulder, accused National Highways of refusing to ‘put hands up and admit they’ve made a multi-billion pound mistake with taxpayers’ money and taxpayers’ lives’.
Labour transport spokesman Jim McMahon said: ‘Ministers must
