Man stuck in motorway traffic following fatal crash drove wrong way down hard shoulder - before telling court 'I needed to go to the toilet'

A man who drove the wrong way down the hard shoulder on the M6 after finding himself stuck traffic following a fatal smash said he needed the toilet. Ibrar Sohail, 28, from Bedford, said he had been stationary in his VW up! for seven hours in Warrington after someone was killed.

He had four points put on his licence as a judge told him: "I can appreciate how frustrating it was, but everyone has to follow the law - otherwise there would be anarchy."

Warrington Magistrates' Court was told Sohail was stopped at 3am on August 17 last year after traffic was brought to standstill following a fatal collision bear the Thelwall viaduct.

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Andrew Sinker, prosecuting said: ''Officer Hill was turning traffic around when he saw headlights approaching from the hard shoulder and it seemed the driver had turned on his own. The officer shouted at the driver and immediately stopped him. The officer appreciated that he had been waiting many hours. However, that did not mean he could turn the vehicle around."

Giving evidence, PC Hill said he was working with a highway maintenance crew on the M62 controlling the 'rolling road blocks' when there was a serious collision on the M6 northbound which meant the road had to be shut.

"We assisted with the closure of that road," he said. "I had to assist with the crew maintenance so that they could undo the work on the M62 so they could put the closure on the M6.

"The motorway northbound was fully closed due to fatality. There were four lanes of traffic and we knew it was going to be closed for some time. There is a procedure for turning traffic around. There were three or four of us from the police and the highways agency and we would turn the vehicles around one by one.

"We knocked on the windscreens asking the drivers to turn around then escorted them the wrong way down the motorway. Shortly after 3am I was turning vehicles around when I saw headlights approaching on the hard shoulder. The headlights are coming on the hard shoulder towards me, effectively the wrong way.

"The vehicle went past me so I shouted for the vehicle to stop so that I could approach the driver. I spoke to the driver, but I did not have time to deal with him then as we still had a lot of traffic to turn around. It did not impact the other traffic at all, but it is just that the manoeuvre he did was done under his own steam and not with the police.

''He jumped the queue for want of a better word. There were thousands of cars. It took six or seven hours to turn everybody around.''

Sohail told the hearing: "I was waiting for around seven hours and as far as I know there was no police communication about the situation on the motorway. We had to rely on Google to find out that someone had passed away. There was no news about the cars turning around, no one was asked if they needed to go to the toilet.

''There were no services offered to drivers who needed to go to the toilet and when I was where the accident happened, the police officer said 'just wait in your car'. The hours went by, literally just us sitting there.

''I am not saying I am above the law or I am a special person. We were there for six or seven hours with old people next to us and no food. It was just horrendous.

"As far as I knew, there were a lot of drivers behind me, caravans, vans, car, and I can see in the background, no more than 100 metres behind me, cars are turning around. So I started my car and honked the horn. My intention was not to cause an accident or anything.

"On top of that, I needed to go to the toilet myself too, so basically, I honked a few times. I went from the edge of lane one and under took one lorry and joined the queue. I stopped in line and the police officer walked towards me.

''It was an honest misunderstanding and an honest mistake from me and I believe it was the police and the highways agency's fault for the lack of information provided to the drivers.''

Sohail added: "I have never been in this situation before. I did not know the protocol the officer was maintaining nor would have 1,000 other vehicle drivers. I would understand if they just knocked on the window and said 'just bear with us, we are going to turn you around', I would have said that was fine. But I did not hear them say 'we are going to turn you around'.

"In my defence, I am sitting there for six or seven hours and the police have not said this. My natural instinct was to join the back of the queue. No one was in harm's way.''

District Judge Jack McGarva found Sohail, of Old Ford End Road, guilty of driving a vehicle the wrong way on a motorway and told him: "I can appreciate how frustrating it was but everyone has to follow the law otherwise there would be anarchy.

"There were three or four officers were trying their best to bring order. If everyone did what you did, there would be no chance of that. You have to accept things as they are."

Sohail was fined £60; and ordered to pay £124 in costs and victim surcharge fees.