Leicester mum dedicates MBE to son killed in smart motorway crash

A road safety campaigner has dedicated her MBE to her eight-year-old son who was killed in a smart motorway crash.

Dev Naran 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.

Meera Naran, from Leicester, had called for improvements to the smart motorway system, playing a key role in the government's new 18-point safety plan.

She said she was "truly honoured and humbled" for the recognition.

Ms Naran also helped with the inclusion of updates to the Highway Code around motorway driving and successfully campaigned for the government's £5m road education drive.

She was awarded an MBE for her services to road safety.

"I'm accepting this in the memory of my son, Dev, and for me it's about continuing to focus on my campaign, which is safer drivers on safer roads.

"The first person I actually wanted to tell was Dev and it was so hard because he's not here," she said.

"We were always each other's cheerleaders - it's really hard."

It comes months after the government confirmed no more smart motorways without hard shoulders will be able to open without additional safety measures.

Ms Naran, 37, added: "I feel so emotional but truly honoured and humbled for my hard work to be recognised in this way, especially in memory of Dev.

"I was very determined from the beginning. I set out to ensure the changes were made and I guess I just didn't look back and continued with my journey.

"I'm just really pleased it has got me where we are today, but obviously it comes with the sadness of losing my baby."

Others named on the Queen's Birthday Honours include environmental activist Lizzie Carr.

The 35-year-old, from Cropwell Bishop, Nottinghamshire, launched non-profit charity PlanetPatrol and inspired thousands of volunteers nationwide to join her in paddleboarding to organise clean-ups along British waterways and raise awareness of plastic pollution and the environment.

She said receiving an MBE was "a real honour and completely unexpected".

"It is such an honour to be acknowledged in this way for the work that I do," she said. "But there's thousands of volunteers that are involved and such a big community of people that make everything happen, I just started it really and they keep it going."

Ms Carr began paddleboarding as part of her recovery from thyroid cancer in 2014, and on seeing the scale of the litter and plastic pollution problem, began co-ordinating clean-ups along rivers and canals.

Her initiative has since expanded to 83 other countries, with more than 8,000 volunteers worldwide collecting more than 400 tonnes of plastic rubbish.

In 2016 she became the first person to paddleboard the length of England's waterways solo, covering 400 miles in 22 days.

A year later she became the first woman to solo paddleboard across the English Channel and in 2018, became the first person to paddleboard the entire length of the Hudson River.

"I definitely didn't think I would be doing this when I started. It wasn't part of the plan," added Ms Carr.

"But I was using the waterways as a way to restore my health and it was my way of giving back."

England women's rugby player Emily Scarratt has also been awarded an MBE for her services to the sport.

The 31-year-old centre and full-back, from Ellistown, Leicestershire, first played for England in 2008.

She is best known as the player who secured England's 2014 Women's World Cup triumph with six minutes left in the game.

A Queen's Police Medal (QPM) has been awarded to Derbyshire Police's former chief constable Peter Goodman, who retired last year.

His successor Rachel Swann, who became the force's first female chief constable, has also been given a QPM, as well as Nottinghamshire Police's Chief Constable Craig Guildford.

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