This is the shocking moment a driver smashes into a police car as he careers down the wrong side of one of the UK's busiest motorways.
A police officer, who puts his own life in danger, can be seen lining up his car on the M1 motorway in Wakefield, West Yorkshire to halt the vehicle when he saw a fellow motorist driving on the wrong side of the road.
The dashcam footage released by the police force shows the incident in full, and the driver of the wrong-way car can briefly be seen behind the wheel as his car collides head-on. Smoke billows into the picture as the camera is knocked off-kilter and police rush to the car.
West Yorkshire Police's Roads Policing Unit tweeted: “So this happened last night (Jan 18), M1 south at the South Yorks border. Report of a car coming the wrong way on the motorway.
“Our brave colleague stopped the oncoming traffic to face this and made a split-second decision to prevent injuries to those behind him,” the police force's Tweet continued.
The brave move by the police officer could potentially have averted a major catastrophe with wintery conditions and nighttime driving limiting fellow motorists' reaction times.
David Robson, a police officer on the Channel 5 TV show Police Interceptors, told the This Is Money website that both the officer and driver avoided injury. He said: “He's ok thankfully, as is the other driver. It turned out to be an elderly male that was confused. He is now being looked after by family and other agencies.”
Images courtesy of WYP Roads Policing.
Keyword: Moment police officer crashes his patrol car head-on into vehicle on UK motorway