Scooter has lucky escape on motorway
Dramatic footage shows careless biker wander across M1 between cars.
A pizza delivery driver has had a lucky escape after wandering on to the M1 motorway with his moped. The rider was spotted on CCTV by Highways England teams, and traffic officers were assisted by police in removing him.
Episode four of Britain’s Busiest Motorway, which aired on ITV last night (Tuesday 14 March) focussed on “trucks versus cars” on the M25, the issues that arise over who ‘owns’ the motorway, and the conflict that can come from that.
One recent example of erratic behaviour from motorway drivers was clear for operators at the Highways England regional control centre when what appears to be a pizza delivery driver was picked up on CCTV pushing his moped along the central reservation of the M1.
The reckless rider appears on the footage pushing his bike in the middle of the motorway at night, between Barnet and Haringey, seemingly oblivious to the dangers of pushing a bike down the middle of a live motorway as traffic swerves around him to avoid a collision.
After a few cursory glances, he then proceeds to amble across the motorway while pushing his bike, while drivers slam on their brakes and have to quickly changes lanes to avoid him.
Having crossed the M1 unscathed, he continued to wander with his bike down the hard shoulder of the M1, stopping under a bridge and removing his helmet to have a cigarette.
Highways England traffic officers were assisted by police in getting the bungling biker off the M1, and he was eventually on his was without coming to any harm.
Caner Okanay, Highways England operations manager, said:
It really was incredible watching him just wander across a live motorway, seemingly oblivious to the fact he was crossing the M1 and not a quiet country lane.
People need to be aware of where they’re driving and be responsible for their safety – no one should be stopping in the central reservation of a motorway. Fortunately he walked away from this unscathed, but you’ll see from the footage that this could have been a very different story.
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