Last Thursday, driving home from work on the M74 S just after the M73 joins it. There are lights up to this point but where the motorways join, and two lanes from each end come together, they have decided not to have any lighting.
Anyway travelling along in the inside lane of the M74, which becomes the 3rd lane out of 4 when they merge, and I see indicators flashing ahead. Not unusual as drivers usually start to shuffle lanes.
Then I realise that I have headlights coming towards me and then I realise that no, that vehicle is stationery and its me thats heading towards them!
Slam on the anchors as does the other 3 lanes and I come to a halt facing the drivers door a of a car sitting side at an angle across lanes 2 & 3. I am watching my rear view mirror and seeing vehicles slamming on brakes to avoid me and swerving all over the place and I have never felt so vulnerable! Was literally just waiting for the crunch, in fact I took my seatbelt off to start to go to help and thought no, put it on again and stay put as its safer.
Meanwhile the woman driver opens the door and proceeds to vomit out the door and then fell out the car and went into what I thought was a full seizure. I phone 999 and while I do this someone from the car in lane 4 runs to her help. Then the woman driver of the other car that got hit comes to see her.
Once call is finished I get out car to let them know emergency services are on their way. I leave car in its position as it is providing protection for the woman now lying on the road. However at this point, lanes 1 & 4 decide that there is no point in waiting around so they head off and then the traffic in these lanes start to move again which then left us in a more vulnerable position again! But there was also no point in them sitting there blocking the possible access for emergency services! The lady that came to help turned out to be a nurse and she advised that it was shock the driver was in and not a seizure.
Thankfully the police finally arrived and closed off lanes 2,3,4 just behind me and once everything was under control , I left the scene.
But it did make me realise how vulnerable you are sitting stationery on a motorway and how there is possibly no "right" way to behave ie keep stationery or just move off. Thank god I'm not a motorway worker or breakdown contractor protected by a couple of plastic cones!
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Feeling Vulnerable new