Police use tactical contact to stop vehicle driving the wrong way up the M20 motorway in Kent

A motorist driving the wrong way down the M20 had to be brought to a “tactical contact” stop after colliding with a police car. The dramatic incident occurred on Friday evening after concerned motorists on the M20 called police to report a vehicle driving westbound on the coastbound carriageway towards London. Officers who arrived quickly stated that they attempted to slow the car down at first, “but they drove towards us.” The Road Policing Unit of Kent Police then stated that they made “tactical contact to safely bring the vehicle to a stop,” adding that “amazingly, nobody was injured.” The police later stated in a series of tweets posted after 10 p.m. on Saturday night that they had contacted the DVLA to have the driver’s licence revoked.  

They also stated: “The important thing is that no one was hurt, and it took a team effort to safely end this incident. Thank you to everyone who called to alert us to this vehicle.” Readers praised the tweets, particularly one woman who told the Kent Police RPU, “The driver came towards my daughter who was absolutely terrified the car was going to hit someone.” The practice of drivers entering the wrong side of the road on the M25 in Kent dates back many years. In 2016, a woman named Julie Anne posted on social media that her husband had nearly been hit head-on by an oncoming car. Three years later, Kent Police RPU reported a lorry collision on the wrong side of the M20 near Larkfield. When they arrived, there was no sign of the lorry involved. The police Volvo was damaged in the process of bringing the errant vehicle to a halt. The same unit tweeted in 2018: “A male has been charged with aggravated Twoc (taking a vehicle without consent), dangerous driving, and attempted GBH following a pursuit on Sunday morning in which a stolen vehicle rammed one of our cars and drove down the M20 the wrong way. Thanks to the efforts of the @ashfordpolice team.” “Currently witnessing a police chase on the M20 as a car comes down the wrong way on the motorway and police follow on the other side!” stated a tweet in August 2016. And in November 2020, it was reported: “Anyone else nearly killed on the M20 near Maidstone with a car doing at least 100mph heading straight for them in the slow lane on the wrong side of the road? I’m not sure if I saw my life flash before my eyes or if I was simply dazzled by his headlights.”