Reported incidents of wrong-way driving on motorways are on the rise.
Here are six recent examples of people driving towards oncoming traffic on England’s motorways.
– June 14 2023: West Mercia Police appealed for dashcam footage after a VW Golf involved in a head-on crash with a van was believed to have been “deliberately driven in the wrong direction at speed” on the M5 near Spetchley, Worcestershire.
– April 15 2023: An elderly motorist drove the wrong way down an exit slip road on the M40 at Handy Cross, Buckinghamshire.
The driver, who pulled over on to the hard shoulder, failed an eyesight test and surrendered his licence.
– October 14 2022: A man died after the car he was travelling in was hit by another being driven the wrong way on the M6 near Lutterworth, Leicestershire.
Christian Taylor, of Preston-on-Stour, near Stratford-upon-Avon, was 41 when he was jailed for 10 years and six months at Leicester Crown Court after pleading guilty to causing death by dangerous driving and three counts of causing serious injury by dangerous driving.
The court heard the crash happened after Taylor drove following an argument with his wife and a night of drinking.
– October 5 2022: A drunk woman drove the wrong way on the M5 near Tewkesbury, Gloucestershire, for more than two miles before causing a four-vehicle crash.
Gloucestershire Constabulary received numerous 999 calls from people reporting a Mini Cooper travelling north on the southbound carriageway of the motorway just after midnight.
The driver, Dorothy Denny, from Bredon, Worcestershire, provided a roadside breath test that was more than three times the legal limit.
She was 65 when she was later handed a 20-month suspended prison sentence, £10,000 fine and 10-year driving ban at Gloucester Crown Court after admitting drink-driving and causing serious injury by dangerous driving.
– June 13 2022: Three men were killed when a stolen van being driven the wrong way on the M606 crashed head-on with a taxi near Bradford, West Yorkshire.
The van was being driven by Jack Simpson, from the Holme Wood area of Bradford, who was 15 at the time.
He was sentenced at Bradford Crown Court to six years in detention after pleading guilty to three counts of causing death by dangerous driving and one count of dangerous driving.
– January 23 2022: An officer from Kent Police was seriously injured on the M25 near Swanley when he was hit by a stolen motorbike travelling in the wrong direction.
The officer was standing next to his car as part of patrols responding to a report of the stolen vehicle.
