It needs to be kept in Sweden!
http://www.bbc.co.uk/manchester/content/articles/2008/09/26/260908_motorway=
_madness_feature.shtml
our stories
You are in: Manchester > People > Your stories > Motorway madness
Motorway madness
EXCLUSIVE
TV cameras capture the shocking moment when two women, stopped by
police walking down the M6, run back onto the motorway and are hit by
speeding traffic. For Stock****t trucker Andy Fairclough, it's
something he'll never forget.
Madness: [pic: BBC One's Traffic Cops]
The footage shown on the BBC One programme Traffic Cops: Dicing with
Death (Thursday 25 Sept) is simply staggering. And just when you think
it couldn't get any worse, it does.
Traffic Cops: Dicing with Death
Watch Dicing with Death now
Andy (right) struggles with the woman
One Saturday afternoon in May 2008, Highways Agency officials alerted
police after spotting two women - twin sisters from Sweden - walking
down the central reservation of the M6 motorway near Stoke-on-Trent.
Then, as officers challenged the women on the hard shoulder, one of
them broke free and deliberately ran onto the carriageway and into the
path of the oncoming traffic. Then her sister inexplicably did the
same.
=93It was completely crazy. It was like watching a live TV show or
something."
That was the reaction of Andy Fairclough, 33, from Reddish who, at
that moment, was driving up from Devon in his Stock****t Removals &
Storage Ltd. truck.
CCTV: cameras spot the women
=93I=92ll never forget it," he said. "When I got there, the artic
[articulated lorry] had just hit the first girl =96 I just remember
seeing it jump up as it ran over her.
"And then I looked left and I saw the other girl run out in front of
the silver Polo. She just hit the windscreen and it knocked her into
the air."
'Booted'
That was shocking enough. What happened next would be simply
unbelievable if it hadn=92t all been captured on camera.
Aftermath: panic on the motorway
With one of the sisters critical, and the other unconscious after an
accident that would kill most people, police called for help while
desperately trying to stop the oncoming traffic.
But as the unconscious sister came round, she punched a woman police
officer and then ran into the southbound carriageway, before fighting
off attempts to restrain her. It took six grown men =96 including Andy
Fairclough =96 to wrestle her to the ground.
=93The strength of the girl was amazing,=94 he said. =93I got booted in
the
chest for my trouble before I managed to get a good hold of her legs.=94
Gobsmacked
Andy says the TV programme has left his workmates speechless. "They
were absolutely gobsmacked,=94 he said.
Andy's truck with the silver Polo
"I=92d told them at the time but, to be honest, I don't think they
realised it was that serious. Now they=92ve seen it, they're just can=92t
believe it."
The incident was a major incident closing the M6 motorway for several
hours and involved dozens of police and the air ambulance.
One of the Swedish sisters has since been convicted of assault and
spent one day in prison. Her sister has recovered after seven weeks in
hospital.
Said Andy: "I=92ve been a truck driver for ten years, and I=92ve never
seen anything like it."
|
