There has been a ‘frightening’ rise in reports of people driving the wrong-way down England’s motorways in the last year, an investigation has found.
Incidents have increased by 15% in the past year, according to the AA, with some of them down to criminals trying to evade police or foreign drivers used to travelling on the other side of the road.
National Highways figures showed 988 incidents involving ‘oncoming vehicles’ were reported on England’s motorways in the year to November 17.
That is up from 858 in the previous 12 months — and represents an average of 19 every week.
Now, the car insurance company has called for a ‘full review of signage and road layout’ to prevent these ‘deadly’ incidents from occurring.
AA president Edmund King said: ‘The increase in the number of vehicles being driven in the wrong direction on motorways is frightening.
‘The consequences of wrong-way driving can be devastating and deadly.’
Five people died in a crash involving a wrong-way driver on the M6 near Tebay services, Cumbria on October 15.
Five people died in a crash involving a wrong-way driver on the M6 near Tebay services, Cumbria on October 15 (pictured)
In September, dashcam footage caught a Citroën C1 driving on the wrong side of the M55 near Preston
In another incident, two people were killed and four were seriously injured when a stolen van was driven the wrong way on the M25 in Hertfordshire on February 4 in an attempt to evade the police.
Barancan Nurcin, then 22, of High Road in Tottenham, north London, was handed an 18-year prison sentence at St Albans Crown Court on June 21.
Mr King said: ‘Various incidents are clearly down to criminals trying to evade the police. There is absolutely no excuse to deliberately drive the wrong way.
‘Other drivers have blamed their sat navs, which they have blindly followed.
‘Some incidents have been linked to foreign drivers used to driving on the other side of the road, although now there are signs in different languages close to UK ports warning drivers to ‘drive on the left’.
‘In locations where genuine mistakes have been made, there should be a full review of signage and road layout to ensure they are intuitive.’
In April, footage showed a motorist narrowly avoiding a head-on crash after driving the wrong way down a slip road
The data, released in response to a FOI request, relates to unconfirmed reports of wrong-way driving made to National Highways’ operations centres by various sources such as the police, traffic officers and the public.
Drivers who see a vehicle travelling in the wrong direction are urged to contact 999 if it is safe to do so, or use a motorway SOS phone to alert the authorities.
Motorway speed limits are usually cut to 20mph following a report of a vehicle being driven towards other traffic.
A National Highways spokesperson said: ‘Safety is our top priority which is why we take immediate steps to keep people safe when a report of an oncoming vehicle comes in, such as setting signals to warn and inform drivers, and lowering the speed limit.
‘Motorways are designed to be as intuitive as possible to reduce the likelihood of this happening.
‘If anyone spots someone driving the wrong way, they should call 999 when safe to do so.’
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