M6 smart motorway death crash mum calls for changes

A mother whose eight-year-old son was killed on a stretch of smart motorway says she wants to see "improvements and changes to the system".

Dev Naran, from Leicester, died when his grandfather's car was struck by a lorry on the hard shoulder of the M6 which was being used by moving traffic.

After the inquest into Dev's death, coroner Emma Brown warned of the dangers of smart motorways.

Dev's mother Meera said his death in May 2018 was "preventable".

The government is to review smart motorways following concerns over driver safety.

Ms Naran told BBC Radio Leicester that on the day Dev died he had been to see his older brother Neel who suffers from severe epilepsy.

The family had been told Neel "possibly would not make it through that night", and Dev had gone to "possibly say goodbye to his brother".

Ms Naran was with Neel when she received the call telling her Dev had died on a stretch of the M6 in Birmingham.

"An hour later I had both my boys in the same hospital, one who had already passed away and one who was fighting for his life," she said.

Neel survived but "his capacity has been taken away through the grief and loss of his brother", she said.

Ms Naran said she wants to see "improvements and changes" to the smart motorway system.

She said: "Yes, you can stop the dynamic motorways, but what about all the motorways that have been rolled out already and still continue to pose threats to lives on a daily basis?"

Highways England said their "deepest sympathies" were with Dev's family.

A spokesman said: "We have received the coroner's report and will respond to the recommendations in due course."

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