The president of the AA has urged motorists not to be over-reliant on sat-navs after it emerged the number of reports of vehicles being driven the wrong way on England’s motorways has jumped by 13 percent in the last year.
A request under the Freedom of Information Act by the PA news agency found National Highways had recorded 872 incidents of “oncoming vehicles” on England’s motorways in the 12 months prior to June 19, 2023.That figure was up from 770 in the previous year, and represents an average of 16 incidents every week.
Edmund King, president of the AA, said: “The increase in the number of vehicles being driven in the wrong direction on motorways is frightening and can be fatal.”
He said: “Generally the slip road layout and signage is designed to ensure joining the motorway in the right direction is intuitive. However, sometimes drivers follow sat-nav directions without thinking, for example, to ‘take the third exit,’ without actually checking the signage, and therefore they can make mistakes.”
Mr. King said motorists need to “use common sense” and not “over-rely” on their sat-navs.
Sheena Hague, director of road safety with National Highways, said: “Safety is our top priority and our traffic officers are called out to hundreds of thousands of incidents each year, including collisions, breakdowns and debris.”
Motorways Designed to be ‘Intuitive’
Ms. Hague said: “We design our motorways to be as intuitive as possible to reduce the likelihood of anyone driving the wrong way.”Jo Shiner, the National Police Chiefs’ Council lead for roads policing, said: “It’s concerning to see the number of incidents rising and I echo National Highways’ comments in that safety is our top priority.”
“It’s so important to be aware and alert when driving. Please keep any distractions to a minimum and concentrate on the signs and information provided for your safety,” she advised motorists.
Steve Gooding, director of the RAC Foundation, said: “To most drivers it’s the stuff of nightmares to think that anyone could drive the wrong way down a motorway.”
“Yet despite highway engineers’ best efforts to make it hard to mistake the off-ramp for a slip road, these numbers show there’s a lot more work to be done,” he added.
Mr. Gooding said: “Could more be done with technology? Perhaps slip-road sensors that trigger roadside warnings?”
“The ability of information to be fed to and from our increasingly connected and intelligent cars must create the opportunity for alerts to be generated and displayed within the vehicle,” he added.
In May this year a motorist claimed he was confused by his satnav when he collided head-on with a car after turning off the M6 motorway near Carlisle in Cumbria.
Daniel Yates, 35, admitted causing serious injury by careless driving and was ordered to do community service work.
