Tragic death of stranded M6 driver sparks fresh smart motorway fears as coroner demands action

Kevin O'Reilly suffered a 'large bleed inside the brain' months after the collision near junction 12 in Staffordshire

08:44, 16 Jun 2025

The death of a stranded driver who was hit by a lorry on a section of the M6 without a hard shoulder has sparked fears over smart motorways.

Kevin O'Reilly suffered a 'large bleed inside the brain' months after the collision near junction 12 in Staffordshire[1].

The 58-year-old's black Mitsubishi had been stranded in lane three of the northbound carriageway on June 29, 2023, after running out of fuel.

The vehicle was then struck by a Volvo HGV at 5.51am, StokeonTrentLive[2] reports.

Mr O'Reilly suffered a traumatic brain injury and spent time in hospitals and rehabilitation facilities before a CT scan on February 6 last year revealed a fatal brain bleed.

He tragically died later that day.

Emma Serrano, Staffordshire area coroner, has written to Highways England to say that 'action should be taken to prevent future deaths'.

In a prevention of future deaths report, she wrote: "During the course of the inquest the evidence revealed matters giving rise to concern.

"In my opinion there is a risk that future deaths will occur unless action is taken.

"The matters of concern are as follows - it was accepted at inquest that Mr O'Reilly was on an all lanes open motorway.

"This type of motorway has all lanes open for vehicles to use, and areas for vehicles to stop every 1.6 miles, but not areas in between.

"It was accepted that there was no area for vehicles to stop should they need to, unless they were near to the refuse areas spaced 1.6 miles apart, and the all lanes open motorways were not monitored."

In response to the coroner, National Highways has said: "Every death on our roads is a tragic loss of life and we again offer our deepest sympathies to all those affected by Mr O'Reilly's death.

"Although roads, especially high-speed roads, can never be risk-free environments, our priority is the reduction of road deaths and injuries on our network, and we want everyone who travels or works on any of our roads to feel confident and safe.

"This is why we invest in road safety initiatives and public awareness campaigns, to help prevent death and injury and to help give drivers the information they need to have safer journeys.

"This is in addition to information provided by other external stakeholders, for example the Highway Code.

"Our latest analysis continues to show that overall, in terms of deaths or serious injuries, smart motorways remain our safest roads.

"National Highways remains committed to continuing to improve safety and providing even more information that is accessible to drivers."

References

1. ^ Staffordshire (www.birminghammail.co.uk)
2. ^ StokeonTrentLive (www.stokesentinel.co.uk)
3. ^ Police 'threaten to burst tyres' as warning issued to those attending illegal car meet (www.birminghammail.co.uk)