‘Horrifying’ rise in automobiles being pushed fallacious method on England’s motorways

Aug 14, 2023 at 5:58 AM

The variety of reviews of autos being pushed the fallacious method on England’s motorways rose by 13% in a yr, an investigation has discovered.

Motoring teams branded the rise “frightening” and known as for technological interventions to be thought of.

National Highways figures present 872 incidents involving “oncoming vehicles” have been reported within the yr to 19 June.

That is up from 770 in the course of the earlier 12 months, and represents a median of 16 per week.

The knowledge, launched in response to a Freedom of Information request, pertains to unconfirmed reviews of wrong-way driving acquired by National Highways’ regional operations centres.

One of essentially the most critical incidents left three males lifeless when a 15-year-old boy drove a stolen van the fallacious method down the M606 close to Bradford and crashed right into a taxi on in June 2022.

Gloucestershire Constabulary just lately launched footage of a four-vehicle smash brought on by a drunk girl driving the fallacious method on the M5 close to Tewkesbury for greater than two miles final October.

Six incidents of wrong-way driving on motorways

14 June 2023: A VW Golf concerned in a head-on crash with a van was believed to have been “deliberately driven in the wrong direction at speed” on the M5 in Worcestershire
15 April 2023: An aged motorist drove the fallacious method down an exit slip highway on the M40 at Handy Cross, Buckinghamshire. The driver, who pulled over on the onerous shoulder, failed an eyesight check and surrendered his licence
14 October 2022: A person died after the automotive he was travelling in was hit by one other being pushed the fallacious method on the M6 in Leicestershire
5 October 2022: A drunk girl drove the fallacious method on the M5 in Gloucestershire for greater than two miles earlier than inflicting a four-vehicle crash
13 June 2022: Three males have been killed when a stolen van being pushed the fallacious method on the M606 by a 15-year-old crashed head-on with a taxi close to Bradford
23 January 2022: An officer from Kent Police was critically injured on the M25 close to Swanley when he was hit by a stolen bike travelling within the fallacious route

Sheena Hague, National Highways director of highway security, mentioned: “Safety is our top priority and our traffic officers are called out to hundreds of thousands of incidents each year, including collisions, breakdowns and debris.

“Thankfully the variety of reviews of oncoming autos is low, nevertheless we deal with them critically by setting alerts to warn and inform drivers for each report of a car driving the fallacious method on our motorways.

“We design our motorways to be as intuitive as possible to reduce the likelihood of anyone driving the wrong way.”

Drivers who see a car travelling within the fallacious route are urged to contact 999 whether it is protected to take action or use a motorway SOS cellphone to alert the authorities.

Speed limits are often reduce to 20mph on motorway stretches the place a car being pushed in direction of different visitors is reported.

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Edmund King, president of the AA, mentioned: “The increase in the number of vehicles being driven in the wrong direction on motorways is frightening and can be fatal.

Mr King urged motorists to “use frequent sense” and not “over-rely” on the sat nav.

Jo Shiner, the National Police Chiefs’ Council lead for roads policing, said: “It’s regarding to see the variety of incidents rising and I echo National Highways’ feedback in that security is our high precedence.

“It’s so important to be aware and alert when driving.

“Please hold any distractions to a minimal and focus on the indicators and knowledge offered on your security.”