Watch: Shocking moment driver crashes into cops after driving wrong way down M4

25 January 2022, 16:32

Wiltshire Police stop man driving wrong way on the M4 after pursuit

This is the shocking moment a driver crashed into a police car after performing a U-turn on the M4 and driving into oncoming traffic on the motorway.

The driver, 21-year-old Reggie Reed, was pulled over by police on the M4 near Swindon on December 13.

He then accelerated off the hard shoulder, crossing two lanes of traffic.

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When he approached stationary traffic he performed a U-turn and started driving the wrong way down the carriageway.

Officers were then forced to perform a "tactical manoeuvre to stop him", according to Wiltshire Police - pulling in front of him, causing him to crash into their vehicle.

Reed appeared in court on January 14 and was jailed for eight months and handed a two-year driving disqualification for dangerous driving, driving while disqualified, failing to stop for police, and driving without insurance.

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Sergeant Will Ayres, from Wiltshire Police's Roads Policing Unit, said: "Reed showed a complete disregard for the authority of the officers who were trying to stop him, and then drove incredibly dangerously and recklessly while trying to evade us.

"Not only did he fail to stop when ordered to do so by police, but he ended up driving the wrong way on a busy, dark motorway.

"It is only thanks to the swift action of the officers in question that Reed was prevented from causing serious injury to himself or the other motorists on that section of motorway."

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PC Luke Hobbs was the officer conducting the pursuit and added: "This was the most dangerous manoeuvre I have witnessed on the motorway,  and stopping him from driving the wrong way down the M4 was my only option and something I did automatically.

"The consequences if I had allowed him to keep driving could have been catastrophic and I would rather risk injury to myself than put members of the public at risk."