Police slam drivers for letting children play soccer whereas caught on M6
Cops have slammed drivers who ‘abandoned’ their motors and let their children run around and play football while they were stuck in a huge traffic jam on the M6 on Saturday.
Emergency services were called to deal with reports of a distressed man on a bridge near the J33 interchange on the motorway, near Lancaster. The major road was closed in both directions as a result.
But cops said that within a few minutes, held motorists decided to get out of their vehicles and let their children run ‘freely onto the carriageway’ and others ‘play football’.
Others later ‘abandoned’ their cars, even walking to the nearby services and crossing the motorway while it was closed by police.
The rulebreaking motorists caused further delays as several empty cars blocked up the motorway, with many other drivers being unable to continue their journeys due to their passengers struggling to reach the vehicles.
The man who was reported on the bridge was arrested for aggravated vehicle taking, driving while unfit through drink/drugs and disqualified driving. He was taken into custody to be questioned.
Held motorists decided to get out of their vehicles and let their children run ‘ freely onto the carriageway’ and others ‘play football’
Others later ‘abandoned’ their cars, even walking to the nearby services and crossing the motorway while it was closed by police
The rulebreaking motorists caused further delays as several empty cars blocked up the motorway
A post shared by Lancashire Police read: ‘Sadly within a few minutes, a number of motorists held in the blocks thought it was acceptable to get out of their vehicles to see what was going on. Some people allowed their children to run freely on the carriageway and others began to play frisbee and football.
‘Unbelievably a number of motorists abandoned their cars and went into the services, with many crossing to the opposite side of the motorway. The motorway was not closed for a significant time and the incident was resolved very swiftly, with the individual in question being arrested for Aggravated Vehicle Taking, driving while unfit through drink/drugs and disqualified driving.
‘When the motorway reopened a short time later, there were a number of abandoned vehicles which blocked the motorway causing additional delays, and other drivers who found themselves unwilling to continue their journey due to their passengers finding themselves unable to return to their vehicles.
‘Whilst we understand that some motorists will have found themselves in a frustrating situation, these people put themselves and others in a very dangerous position. They also impeded officers getting to the scene of the emergency, and significantly delayed the motorway traffic from flowing freely again.
‘We are seeing this happening more and more, with people thinking this behaviour is acceptable when it is clearly not. It is creating a dangerous situation and causing officers to detract from dealing with the initial cause of the delay. Our officers will always work to get traffic moving as quickly as possible, but this will not be at the expense of safety.
‘The motorway can be a dangerous place, and that danger may not be immediately obvious. We urge people who find themselves in a tailback on the motorway to remain in their vehicles and to await instruction or direction from the Police or National Highways. Let us be able to concentrate on dealing with the initial emergency to get you moving as soon as possible.’
