A Scots mum has spoken of the 'horrendous' moment her son and his partner had to be cut from a car after a horror hit and run collision.
Emergency services were scrambled to Airbles Road in Motherwell following a smash at around 7pm on Sunday February 6.
The terrifying incident happened after a couple left the nearby Steelworks Bar and Grill.
As the couple's car approached the roundabout on Airbles Road, the pair remember seeing a silver transit van a safe distance away.
But they were left stunned when they saw the van speeding towards them before smashing into the right side of their car.
The passenger's mum said: "They said the minute they went to pull out, this driver put the foot down and was about 70mph an hour and 'deliberately' smashed into them and was shouting something to them.
"They had plenty time but the speed that he came flying up the road when she pulled out. He never stopped, he just kept driving."
The driver fled the devastation at the scene without alerting emergency services.
Luckily, an ambulance had been en route to a call when they spotted the collision and came to the couple's aid.
The mum arrived on the scene after her son phoned her from within the wreckage.
She said: "Just minutes after a text from my son, I got a call and I could make out the words 'Airbles Road' and 'crash'. I was thinking 'what had happened here?', me and his dad jumped in the motor and flew up to the road.
"When I saw the car, I thought I had lost the two of them. Then I saw my son's girlfriend and a paramedic was on the other side seeing my son but I couldn't see that - that's when I realised he was still in the car."
She says the experience was 'horrendous' as she looked on helplessly.
Fire crews were drafted in to assist police and paramedics by cutting her son from the car - but she couldn't bear to watch.
Her son, who had been the passenger, was rushed to hospital but was released in the early hours of Monday morning.
Despite the seriousness of the crash, the couple had a miraculous escape and are now recovering from painful bruising.
The mum said: "I still don't know how they survived it. I'm still saying someone was watching the two of them that night.
"We're just so angry with the driver."
Police have launched a probe into the smash and are hunting the driver of a silver transit van who failed to stop.
Anyone with information about the collision, or dashcam footage, is being urged to come forward.
A Police Scotland spokesperson said: "Around 7pm on Sunday, 6 February, officers were called to reports of a crash involving a car and a van on Airbles Road, Motherwell.
"The 23-year-old male passenger of the car was taken to University Hospital Wishaw.
"The silver transit van failed to stop.
"Anyone with information or dashcam footage is asked to contact Police Scotland on 101, quoting reference number 2891 of Sunday, 6 February, 2022."
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