Safety concerns about an unlit stretch of the M65 have led to a local campaign to get the motorway's defunct road lights switched back on.
Following a fatal crash in November, near junction 8 of the motorway, the local newspaper The Lancashire Telegraph launched its Turn The Lights On campaign. An inquest into the crash, where driver Mark Burgess died, will be held in February, and the cause of the crash hasn't yet been determined. The newspaper's campaign is not about the initial crash, but it claims other motorists crashed into debris on the road after the crash, saying they didn't see it because it was so dark. The Highways Agency spokesman said this was a matter for on-going investigation.
70 per cent of motorway in the UK is unlit
Junctions 7 to 10 of the M65 are managed by the Highways Agency. A spokesman said that the lights had been switched off in March 2011 after careful safety analysis and the reason for the switch-off was to reduce carbon emissions.
The Agency said that under a revised standard for lighting on England's motorways and major A roads introduced in 2007, lights would not be installed at these sites if the existing lighting was due to be replaced - or if the sites were opening as new.
The lights on the stretch of the M65 where the accident took place were switched off as part of the Agency's nationwide Midnight Switch-Off strategy, where lights were switched off between midnight and 5am after an analysis of road safety. The aim of the strategy was to cut carbon emissions. A spokesman made the point to Lighting that around 70 per cent of motorways have never been lit. "Huge swathes of motorway have never had lighting," he said.
The Agency said that another factor which was improving road safety was the advent of better car headlamps. The Highways Agency estimated it would cost around £2 million to re-install street lights on the stretch of the M65 where the accident took place.
