Lorry driver’s miracle escape after truck plunges off flyover onto busy motorway

A lorry driver had a “miracle” escape after his truck toppled off a flyover and plunged 30ft onto a busy motorway.

The 40ft-long HGV left the northbound M42 just before 6.30pm on Monday – crashing onto the busy M6 Toll motorway underneath.

Amazingly the driver, a man in his 50s, escaped with just a broken leg after crawling from the wreckage of his cab.

He was airlifted to Birmingham’s Queen Elizabeth Hospital after being treated at the scene by paramedics.

Passing motorist Shelley Brumpton snapped the aftermath of the crash and posted the picture on Twitter.

She tweeted: “Worst crash I’ve ever seen…arctic fallen off the bridge onto M6 toll. Thoughts are with family praying all ate (sic) safe.

“Horrific accident though, incredibly lucky to have made it out alive!!”

Both the northbound M6 Toll and M42 were closed for several hours following the smash.

Warwickshire Fire and Rescue Service said 1,200 litres (263 gallons) of diesel had leaked from the lorry’s fuel tank onto the carriageway near T1 of the M6 Toll.

Warwickshire Police are investigating whether another vehicle was involved.

West Midlands Ambulance Service described the driver’s escape as “amazing” after an ambulance, a paramedic rapid response vehicle and the Midlands Air Ambulance rushed to the scene.

A spokesman said: “Ambulance crews responded to a road traffic collision following reports of a lorry coming off a flyover on the M42 and landing on the northbound M6 Toll road.

“Crews treated the lorry driver, a man in his 50s, for serious lower leg fractures, neck and back pain and facial lacerations.

“The driver crawled out of his badly damaged cab and was treated at the scene by paramedics before being airlifted to the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham for further assessment.

“Miraculously there were no cars passing at the time – it would have been far worse if there had been.

“The M6 Toll northbound was closed as a result of the incident.”

Police quizzed the driver  of a Ford Mondeo which collided with the lorry before the HGV crashed.

The collision caused the lorry to jack-knife across all three lanes before veering over the edge of the flyover onto the M6 Toll.

The 55-year-old driver was taken by air ambulance to the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham where he was being treated for leg and ankle injuries yesterday (Tues).

A 49-year-old who was driving the Mondeo was not injured in the collision.

The M6 Toll opened at 6am this morning following resurfacing.

Motorist Sam Taylor, 36, who was driving on the M42 at the time of the horror smash, said: “I didn’t see them coming together but saw the lorry flying across the road in my wing mirror.

“When I saw it plunge over the edge down onto the motorway below I thought ‘that’s it, he’s a goner’.

“I couldn’t believe it when I got home and saw on the TV that no-one had been badly injured.

“It’s a miracle that he didn’t land on a car or cause a horrific crash on the M6 Toll, it could have killed ten or more people.

“If I was that lorry driver, I’d be putting the lottery on this weekend.”