A van driver who told police he was “trying to get to Glasgow” was caught reversing up the slip road of a Midland motorway. Daniel Udrescu, 57, apologised for a “moment of poor judgment” when officers stopped him on the M6 Toll at Cannock at 10.30pm on April 29.
Driver’s explanation and seat belt offence
Udrescu told officers he was “attempting to get to Glasgow and went the wrong way”. The officer at the scene also spotted that his seat belt was clipped in while not being worn, indicating he had been driving without it fastened.
He admitted the offences at Birmingham Magistrates’ Court last month and was handed three penalty points, a £445 fine, £120 in costs, and a £178 victim surcharge.
Wider problem of wrong-way driving
The details emerged in a Press Association investigation which found that one driver a week faced prosecution for putting lives at risk by travelling the wrong way on motorways. Dangerous motorists have been caught reversing along carriageways, performing U-turns next to fast-moving traffic, and driving against the flow in frantic bids to reach missed exit junctions.
The Press Association found that 31 motorists over the past 30 weeks were charged with criminal offences connected to driving in the wrong direction on motorways in England and Wales. Those convicted usually face hundreds of pounds in fines and court costs, with some also handed driving bans.
Fatal incidents highlight dangers
Five teenagers died on the M9 in Co Kildare in the Republic of Ireland earlier this month when their BMW crashed head-on while travelling in the wrong direction in a bid to escape police. Three women and a seven-year-old boy in the other car were left seriously injured in hospital.
And seven people – including two police officers – died when a Volkswagen Passat which had been pursued by police was driven the wrong way along a dual carriageway and hit a marked armed response vehicle. It happened on the A66 in Cleveland early on Saturday.
Incident statistics and response
In June, National Highways data secured by the Press Association showed 947 incidents involving “oncoming vehicles” on England’s motorways had been recorded in the 12 months to May 11. National Highways said at the time that the total might feature unverified reports, maintaining “confirmed incidents of wrong-way driving on motorways remain rare”. It said: “Every report is treated seriously and acted on quickly.”
Steve Gooding, director of motoring research charity the RAC Foundation, said: “To think anyone could drive the wrong way onto a motorway heading into fast-moving traffic is truly the stuff of nightmares.”
