Lorry speeds down wrong side of M5 narrowly missing £100k Porsche

Peter Stone, 55, was driving along the motorway at the time with the man stating he had "less than two seconds to move before getting flattened by the tipper driver."

10:09, 04 Aug 2025

A lorry was snapped careering across the central reservation of the M5, with one driver claiming he had "less than two seconds" to move before "getting flattened."

Peter Stone, 55, was on his way home from a family getaway to St Agnes, Cornwall, in his Porsche 911, when the lorry came speeding towards him between junction 28 and junction 29 - Cullompton and Exeter - at 12.23pm on Friday, August 1.

The dad-of-two - who was travelling northbound in the fast lane - had just seconds to react to avoid what could have been a fatal crash.

He decided to swerve into the middle lane with only seconds to spare as the lorry driver came down the wrong way of the motorway.

Peter, from Reading, Berkshire, told SWNS: "It literally came out of nowhere. I think I had less than two seconds to move before getting flattened by the tipper driver.

"It was quite difficult, my car is quite low down and the black car [in front] sort of obscured my view. I only really saw the truck - luckily it was yellow, so your peripheral vision can pick up bright colours and stuff."The black car moved out in front of me, I had a white motorhome beside me and I managed to go in between them.

It was just a reflex reaction really. I'm very surprised no-one actually smashed into the truck."He continued, explaining his response after the incident: "I did speak to the transport company because I wanted to make sure no-one was injured before offering to share the footage."I pulled over straight away and called 999, assuming there was going to be some serious injuries.

"Fortunately, as far as I'm aware, no one was injured - which is quite remarkable."

Peter filmed the scene on his front and rear dashcams, with the driver, who has an HGV licence himself, stating: "You've seen videos of trucks crossing central reservations, but for it to happen straight in front of you is bizarre."Until I reviewed the video I hadn't even realised I was in the fast lane. In my recall I thought I must have been in the middle lane, there's no way I could have been in the third lane.

"I've had two nights of uninterrupted sleep replaying it in my mind, trying to come to terms with basically probably being two seconds from serious injury or even worse."

Police and ambulance services attended the scene of the crash, with the motorway left closed in both directions for just over an hour.

Lanes one and two reopened at around 1.30pm to traffic.

A National Highways spokesperson said no serious injuries had been reported following the crash.

Repairs took place overnight and the road fully reopened at around 3.30am on Saturday morning, the spokesperson added.

Devon & Cornwall Police and South West Ambulance Service were contacted for comment by SWNS.

References

1. ^ M5 lorry crash live as drivers stuck in huge rush-hour delays (www.birminghammail.co.uk)
2. ^ Man dies after coach crash in Malvern countryside road (www.birminghammail.co.uk)