Lorry driver arrested after serious crash on M5

A man remains in a critical condition in hospital

Author: Phoebe GreggorPublished 19th Jan 2022
Last updated 25th Jan 2022

Police are appealing for witnesses following a serious collision on the southbound carriage of the M5 yesterday evening (17 January), between junctions 7 and 8.

Officers were called shortly after 7.30pm to reports of a seriously injured man laying partially in the carriageway. The man was confirmed to be the driver of a lorry which had stopped on the hard shoulder.

Witness reports suggest that the man was stood on the rear offside of his lorry where he was then struck by a passing white lorry. He sustained life threatening injuries and was transported to Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham by air ambulance, where he is in a critical condition.

The lorry which struck him failed to stop but was later located and the driver, a 41-year-old male, has been arrested on suspicion of causing serious injury by dangerous driving. He remains in custody.

Sgt Steve Hastie of the roads policing team, said: “The motorway was busy at the time the incident occurred and so I would urge anyone who witnessed the collision or was driving between junctions 7 and 8 at the time and may have dash cam footage of either the collision itself, or the lorry stopped on the hard shoulder, to please get in touch as soon as possible.

“The victim remains in a critical condition in hospital and we need as much information as possible to help us progress with the investigation.”

Anyone with information or footage is asked to visit the website, quoting reference incident number 520 of 17 January 2022.

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