12/12/2011 Inside Out South West

Hello and welcome to Inside Out South West. Stories from close to

home. Tonight: Calls for action after the M5 pile-up. We reveal how

experts recommended a new fog warning system for the motorway 18

months before the fatal crash. Even 10 miles an hour, 15 miles an hour,

would have made some of those fatal crashes perhaps near-fatal and

given people half a chance. Also: The courage of Kirianne. How one

Devon woman has become the campaigning face of young war

widows. It is simply about honouring him and being the best

wife I can in death, as I was in life. And celebrating Exeter's part

in the Great British air race. We recapture the spirit of the real

Magnificent Men In Their Flying Machines. It's probably the biggest

challenge that the early aviators, in terms of a race, had faced so

far. I am Sam Smith and this is Inside Out South West. The fatal M5

pile-up on a foggy night last month has highlighted how catastrophic a

sudden loss of visibility on roads can be. There is sophisticated

technology available which can detect such dangers and warn

motorists. It is in action elsewhere in the UK but not in the

south-west. We have been investigating why. Last month's

horrific pile-up on the M5, in which seven people died, was

Britain's worst for 20 years. Unusually, the police were quick to

suggest the cause. There was very significant smoke across the

carriageway which, in effect, caused a bank similar to a fog bank,

which was very distracting and difficult to drive through.

role of smoke, possibly from a nearby fireworks display, is still

under investigation. But some witnesses say what they drove into

that night was not smoke but fog. We were traveling on the M5,

getting up to speed, and we noticed a white wall and I turned and said,

well, that's the thickest fog I've ever seen. It is something I have

never seen the like of before. I have driven for many years, through

fog before. I have never seen anything as sudden as this. Where

there was no fog at all previously, to suddenly hitting a wall of

extremely impenetrable fog. Inside Out has learned that, despite the

apparent focus on smoke, the police are also investigating the possible

role of fog. Tonight, we can reveal that the part of the M5 where so

many people died is known by the authorities to be one of the most

fog-prone stretches of motorway in the country. So bad, in fact, that

only last year, experts recommend that its fog warning system be

upgraded. A recommendation on which there are apparently no plans to

act. The M5's current warning system is outdated. Its electronic

boards can signal fog, but only if staff at the Highways Agency

control room activate them. And they rely on people on the ground,

like the police, reporting a problem. On that night, no one did.

So fog was not signed. Fog has always been a danger on Britain's

roads. Early efforts to protect motorists ranged from the basic to

the bizarre. NEWSREEL: Motorway police are being armed with ray

guns. They are harmless, except for fog warning lights. Because they

relied on human intervention, the systems could be hit-and-miss.

NEWSREEL: Our motorway cop shows how good a marksman he is on the

move with the new space-age lighter. It took nine deaths in the 80s for

things to change. The coroner's court heard how the police had no

warning of a sudden blanket of fog which descended on the motorway.

The M25 pile-up was at the time Britain's worst. Questions were

quickly asked about its fog warning system. The motorway had fog

warning lights, but it was the job of the police to switch them on.

They hadn't. It must be remembered that a police officer has to

physically come down here himself and either use an electronic device,

such as this one, or a key to turn those lights on. In spite of the

fact that there is now a fully operational motorway control centre

only a few miles from here. This, Britain's most modern motorway,

still has manually operated hazard warning lights. Such was the outcry

that the M25 got a new state-of- the-art system. Signs which are

automatically triggered by roadside visibility sensors. It worked.

Motorists heeded the warnings and slowed down. Yet the technology was

not put on other roads. And in 1991, tragedy struck again. The smoke

from the crash and subsequent explosion lingered over the scene

for hours. 50 yards of twisted and burnt metal sprawled across three

lanes of the London-bound carriageway. Lorry driver Bob

Flowerdew was involved in that crash. An experience he will never

forget. What did he think when he heard about last month's M5 pile-

up? Not again. Are people ever going to learn? You had the M5, the

M42 a few years ago as well. I don't know, people just seem to

forget very quickly. It just happens again, then there is a big

outcry and a few years down the line it happens and it all rolls

back. It was this one then that one. It just seems to keep happening.

There has to be some way of giving pre-warnings, basically, for fog

like it. I don't know the answer personally but obviously there are

brainy people around who should come up with answers. And indeed,

there are. I traveled to meet Hans Romaine, who helped install an

automatic fog detention system in Holland after a fatal pile-up there

20 years ago. In 1990 there was a very severe accident during very

dense fog on the A60. There were many deaths and casualties. And

this caused the Ministry of Transport to ask us to implement a

formal warning project to detect dense fog and warn drivers of speed

limits. The sensors are similar to those on the M25. They detect and

warn not only of fog but anything that affects visibility. And,

according to Hans Romaine, they rarely get it wrong. This is

completely automatic, there is no human being involved? No, it's

better not to because you can't lay the responsibility with human

beings. Those thick patches of fog are so unexpected that you cannot

give this task to a human being, as far as we think. So, a totally

automated system built from the ground up in just six months,

designed to make a Dutch motorway safer. But does it work? I went to

meet the man who spent two years evaluating it. Yes, the system does

help people reduce their speed further than they would do just for

bad visibility. You get fewer accidents? After the system was

installed, for many years, fog accidents hardly occurred any more

on these roads. Whereas they did continue to rise in this

environment. How important is it that drivers believe the signs that

they see? Trust automatically develops. This is one of the

sensors we are passing. As soon as you have fog, the system warns

people and that means, if you have such a warning, quite soon you will

be confronted with fog. By means of that very close correspondence

between the warning and the fog itself, trust will automatically

develop. Back then, the cost of the technology was high. Nearly

�250,000 per mile. But that did not put the Government off. The

political will to install this expensive but apparently effective

technology came about partly because everybody knew that a major

cause of the accident here was fog. But back in the UK, with the M5

pile-up, things are not quite as clear-cut. Here, it's not just fog

but smoke that is under investigation. Both, in fact, might

have played a part, because experts say pollutants like smoke can make

fog worse. Fog consists of droplets of water suspended in the air,

which scatters the light. And that is what reduces visibility. But

when the droplets form in the atmosphere, they have to form on a

particle of pollution and there is always some pollution in the

atmosphere. And if there is a lot of pollution, in general, there

will be more droplets formed and more scattering and so the fog will

appear denser. Crucially, whether the M5 crash happened in fog, smoke

or a combination of the two, a sensor at this spot would have

detected the loss of visibility. But there are no such sensors on

the M5 or, indeed, in the south- west. They have, however, been

recently installed in the north- west as part of an automated system.

The cost? �180,000. We obtained this report done by consultants for

the Highways Agency last year. It not only identifies the M5 accident

spot as high-risk for fog, but it also recommends installing an

automated fog warning system. We asked the Highways Agency whether

there were any plans to do so. It said there were not. And that it

would only look at safety improvements on the M5 after the

results of the police investigation were known. But some of those

involved in that terrible accident would like action now. There is a

big fog danger along the whole M5. The earliest indication you give

people to slow down will be beneficial. Even 10 miles an hour,

15 miles an hour would have made some of those fatal crashes perhaps

near-fatal. And it would have given people half a chance. I think that

would be a phenomenal idea. And why not? If that is something that can

be provided or a lesson that can be learned, definitely. When her

husband died on active service in Afghanistan, Kirianne Curley from

Devon devoted herself to campaigning for better treatment

for bereaved military families. Tonight, Kirianne tells Inside Out

how she has reluctantly become the face of war widows. And how her

campaigning work is not over yet. Wootton Bassett, 2010. Corporal

Steven Curley is brought back to Britain from Afghanistan. I said

goodbye to my husband as he deployed to Afghanistan in the

knowledge that he would be coming home. He never did. A Royal Marine

from 40 Commando, Corporal Curley was one of the elite. A mountain

leader and section commander. In May 2010, he was blown up by an IED

during a patrol in Sangin in Helmand Province. Steven was

murdered. Bottom line is, my husband was murdered. He did not

die, he was killed. After Steven's death, Kirianne was given his post-

mortem report. I could have just been reading some kind of gruesome

fiction, until they started describing him. What made him him.

His hair, the colour of his eyes. And then it became... This wasn't

anybody any more. This was my Steve. Kirianne had heard rumours about

how he died, but nothing officially. So she wasn't prepared for the

inquest in Exeter more then one year later. Sadly, it was alleged,

and I have to stress that it was only alleged at this time, that

Stephen was killed by a 14-year-old boy who was approached by the

Taliban and offered $80, which is �50, to detonate a command wire IED.

The coroner adjourned the hearing, asking for more information about

the allegations before coming to a verdict. I am not a barrister, I am

not in the military, and you kind of need to be both to even begin to

understand the inquest process. He was not a soldier, he was a man. A

soldier was something he did. And I think that gets lost somewhere in

between this whole process. It gets forgotten about, that this was

somebody... To the world, he was a man, a soldier. To me, he was my

world. November, and Kirianne is packed and ready for two days of

public engagements around the country. The first, tonight in

Exeter. Her mother, Ann, is going with her. It has started to become

part of the fabric of her being now. It really matters. It's not just

because it affected her, so I'm going to do something. It really

matters to her. Have you got tissues? I saw her get married, I

was there when the baby was born. And you don't expect your 27-year-

old daughter to be a widow. You The Devon Festival of Remembrance.

An annual tribute to the armed forces and their families. Kirianne

is one of the guests of honour, widows from conflicts past and

Tonight is not about Kirianne. It really isn't. Tonight, when she

joins that muster, she will be standing there in Stephen's place

and she will be honouring Stephen and those others who lost their

lives and those others who were injured. People need to be aware

that there are too many war widows out there that look like me, that

are young with young children. Sadly, we have so long without our

loved ones to live. Her mother sees both her public calm and her

private grief. She's great. She helps me the most by not trying to

pretend that it's all right that Stephen was killed. It's not OK.

She just silently stands by my side and says, "This shouldn't have

Please welcome the choir and the With Remembrance Day past, Kirianne

returns to the inquest campaign, sending a public letter to David

Cameron. I'm convinced the only way to properly reform the system is by

appointing a chief coroner. I urge you to honour Stephen's memory and

the memory of all those like Stephen have given their lives in

defence of this country and decide The same week, the government has a

surprise change of heart and agrees to appoint a chief coroner.

Platform 5, Exeter St David's Station. Kirianne's very personal

campaign ends, too. Ready... Wow. The unveiling of the memorial

plaque to her husband, helped by son William, who was 17 weeks old

when Stephen died. That's your name, Mummy's name, Daddy's name. Steve

and I met on this platform after he returned from his last tour of

Afghanistan. We were both alighting the same train and I swapped my

first class ticket to sit next to him on the train. The rest is

history, as they say. On the plaque, her poem to Stephen. Kirianne is

still waiting for her husband's inquest resumed. Since his death,

103 service personnel have died in Afghanistan. Meanwhile, Kirianne

says that she will continue lobbying until she feels she has

achieved her goals. Then, she can retire from the spotlight. It's not

about sitting in front of cameras, because I don't enjoy it. I don't

want to do it. It is not about being in the newspaper or being on

TV. It is simply about honouring him and being the best wife I can

in death as I was in life. And about making my son as proud of me

as he will be of his dad. 100 years ago, all eyes were turned

skywards as one of the wonders of the Edwardian age captured the

nation. The airplane was less than a decade old but already a group of

pioneering aviators were planning a daring challenge. David Whiteley

has been finding out about the Circuit of Britain Race and its

These days, we take flying very But 100 years ago, the skies were a

brave new frontier. The aircraft had only been around for a few

years and pilots were still working out the best way to take off, to

land and, most importantly, how to stop falling out of the sky. Then,

the stakes were raised even higher. In 1911, the Daily Mail invited

aviators from all over the world to race around the entire country,

with the winner of the Circuit of This was probably the biggest

challenge for the aviators that they had faced so far. You had a

very long race, the longest yet, and you had the British weather to

deal with. It went right up into Scotland, over mountains, it was an

enormous challenge for those Starting at Brooklands in Surrey,

they were undertaking a journey of more than 1,000 miles. Nothing like

this had ever been attempted before. Indeed, back in 1911, many people

had never even seen a car, let alone a plane. But the early

aviators were determined to prove the aircraft was safe, fast and

reliable. Before long, 30 pilots had signed up for the air race,

with an incredible collection of flying machines. They were all

hoping to be the first to cross the finish line, or at least complete

the epic journey. Today, the Shuttleworth Collection in

Bedfordshire has more airworthy examples of the type of aircraft

that flew in the race than anywhere else in the world. John, is this an

example of the kind of flying machine that would have taken part

in the Circuit of Britain Race? Absolutely. We've got the

Deperdussin, Bleriot, Blackburn, Bristol Boxkite. They look really

different - this one, the wings are high, this one, they are low. This

one looks like a kite, they really are a mixture of designs. That is

absolutely right. In those days, the conventional airplane wasn't a

convention, so it was very experimental. They tried biplanes,

triplanes, quadroplanes, monoplanes, different layouts and

configurations Nobody knew how to make an airplane as we know it now.

On Saturday, 22nd July 1911, an extraordinary collection of

aircraft and their pilots gathered for the first leg from Brooklands

in Surrey to Hendon. It caused a sensation. Thousands of people from

across the country turned out to see these extraordinary flying

machines take to the air. From Hendon, the second leg would take

the aircraft north through Harrogate and Newcastle, and on to

Edinburgh. Leg three would see them through Stirling, Glasgow, Carlisle,

Manchester and Bristol. Then it was West to Exeter, where just before

6am on 26th July, a commotion indicated that the first airmen had

been seen on the horizon. Large numbers of people had stayed up

overnight to ensure they didn't miss the show. The pilots weren't

around for long. Running repairs allowed just enough time for the

spectators to get a closer look before they set off again. Later

that day, the arrivals made headline news with the Express and

Echo giving over its entire front page to the story. Now, on the

final leg, the pilots went to Salisbury Plain and then Brighton

before arriving back at Brooklands, a total of 1,010 miles. Among the

starters was Samuel Franklin Cody, a one-time Wild West showman and

sharpshooter. He came to England in 1890, became a British citizen and

was now one of the country's first buyers. -- flyers. He was a

completely experimental aviator. I don't think his approach was even

particularly scientific. The biggest problem with Cody is that

it is hard to extract the man from the myth. He created this whole

show around him, so it is hard to get to the bones of who he really

was and how he went about things. Unlike Cody, some competitors

didn't even make it past the start line. Their main challenges would

have been reliability of the engines and the aircraft themselves.

The weather was tough, and the abilities of the pilots. This was

very early days, before conventions were established and a safe way of

doing things. Of course, the machines themselves were

unacceptably low standards by today's standards. It is said that

the Circuit of Britain Race was the inspiration behind the film Those

Magnificent Men In Their Flying Machines. This aircraft, a replica

of the Bristol Boxkite, was made for the film and it is similar to

the design Cody would have been 100 years ago, pilots had little

experience of flight. Today, only the most experienced can take these

historical machines into the air. Shuttleworth chief private Dodge

Bailey spent a career with the RAF before tackling the Edwardian

planes. It must have been an incredibly risky time in aviation,

the very early years? Well, it was genuine pioneering because of all

these uncertainties about the airplane, the engine and the

weather. They didn't know what was going to be beyond that line of

trees. They had no way of dealing with bad weather, they just pressed

on and survival of the fittest prevailed. Some of them lost their

lives just because of the weather. Others were lucky or landed in a

That was absolutely fantastic to watch. The way the plane climbs, it

just looks so graceful. What's it like to fly it? Well, it's

different. The first concern with this particular airplane is its

climb rate. It doesn't climb very well, so I'm very conscious of wind

and turbulence and trees and so on, in order to get it up to a safe

height. And then flying the aircraft is a little different.

It's not terribly stable, so I have to be in control all the time - I

can't take my hand off the stick, for example. The Circuit of Britain

Race ended just a week after it had begun. It was won by Andre Beaumont

in his Bleriot, who completed the 1,010-mile course in a total flying

time of just under 22.5 hours. Fellow Frenchman Vedrine was just

over an hour behind. As for SF Cody, well, he finished fourth, ten days

after the winning French machine. But his biplane was the only

British-built aircraft to finish the race. A bit like the lunar

landings It was a major advancement in science, had all the elements of

sportsmanship and courage and challenge to the participants. So,

yes, it had everything - it was a I guess, if they hadn't tried, if

they had given up, you have to say, "Where would we be?" If they had

maybe flown three miles and said, "Oh, no, I'm not doing that!",