Police in M1 head-on ‘near miss’ after driver ignores ‘road closure’ instruction

A stretch of the motorway was closed overnight due to a serious incident. It has since been confirmed that a young man in his teens had sadly died at the scene of a traffic collision.

It has now been revealed that officers returning from the tragic incident met a driver who had ignored the motorway ‘road closed’ sign and was travelling towards them on the wrong side of the carriageway.

A PSNI spokesperson said: “Overnight Road Policing officers had cause to close the M1 motorway due to a serious incident.

“This morning crews returning from the incident location almost had a head-on collision with a driver who had breached the road closure and had done a U-turn to travel the wrong way on the carriageway.

“This had the potential to be a serious or fatal incident.

“The driver stated his sat-nav had told him to go that way and made the decision to breach the full Amey closure.”

The police spokesperson confirmed the motorist has been reported for dangerous driving.

“A red displayed on a matrix above a lane means you must not proceed any further in that lane. A number of drivers also chose to breach this signal,” the spokesperson added.