Lancashire Police have issued a stark warning after several motorists were spotted driving the wrong way on the M6 motorway, an act described as 'absolutely unacceptable'. The incident occurred on Sunday afternoon (August 23) following a crash on the northbound carriageway near junction 34, when drivers turned around and drove the wrong way back up a slip road to avoid being stuck in traffic.
Nobody was hurt in the incident, but officers said this 'could have easily been so different'. Lancashire Police confirmed that a number of the vehicles have been identified and vowed to take 'appropriate action' against the drivers involved.
Police appeal for dashcam and mobile footage
Officers are now appealing for anyone with dash cam or mobile phone footage of other drivers who went the wrong way to come forward. The police warned that driving in this way 'can have utterly devastating consequences', referencing two fatal wrong-way crashes near Middlesbrough and in Ireland.
In the Teesside crash early on Saturday, two police officers and five others were killed when a Volkswagen Passat, which had been pursued by police, was driven the wrong way along a dual carriageway and hit a police marked armed response vehicle. PC Matthew Blades, 37, and PC Tom Clough, 38, lost their lives. Cole Robert Worthy, 17, Theo Rae, 17, Makai Saddington, 18, and 23-year-olds Michael Robert Cahill and Jacob Matusiak were also pronounced dead at the scene. TikTok footage later emerged showing one of the men who died filming himself driving dangerously in the months prior to the tragedy.
'We will not tolerate driving that endangers lives'
This came shortly after five teenagers died on the M9 in Co Kildare when their BMW crashed while driving the wrong way in a bid to get away from police. Three women and a seven-year-old boy in the other vehicle involved in the head-on collision were left badly injured in hospital.
In a full post shared by Lancashire Police on Monday afternoon, the force said: "We need to tell you about something that happened on the motorway this weekend, that is absolutely unacceptable. Shortly before 1:45pm yesterday, we received a report of a collision on the M6 northbound near to junction 34, and as a result, there were people turning around and driving the wrong way back up the slip road to avoid joining the motorway."
"Thankfully nobody was seriously hurt, either in the collision or due to this incident, but as we have seen in other parts of the country this weekend, these actions can have utterly devastating consequences. We have identified a number of those vehicles and drivers involved in the incident and will take the appropriate action against them."
The force added: "We know that there will have been a lot of people on the motorway or making their way the correct direction down the slip road at that time, who will have been lawfully going about their journeys. We need to ask for your help. If you have dashcam that covers the junction 34 slip road, and shows any of these drivers, or took mobile phone footage, it is really important that you get in touch, so we can see it."
"Being stuck in standstill or slow-moving traffic can be frustrating, we get it, but it is never an excuse to put the lives of those around you, and your own life at risk. Nobody got hurt yesterday, but that outcome could have so easily been different. We will not tolerate driving that endangers lives. If you have information or footage that can help us, please call 101 quoting log 0689 of 23rd August."
