Hit-and-Run Horror on the M6: BMW Ploughs Into Stricken Motorist on Hard Shoulder
BMW Driver Overtakes and Crashes into Stationary Car
Ben Cooke, 35, tore up the M6 between junctions 4a and 5 in his BMW 118, recklessly overtaking cars at speed. Seconds before disaster struck, the victim had stopped on the hard shoulder, hazard lights flashing, after pulling over safely.
As the driver stepped out, Cooke smashed into the Ford Focus, leaving the victim helpless and injured in lane one of the busy motorway. Other drivers swerved to avoid the stricken man, chaos unfolding in the fast lane.
Taxi Escape and Shocking Aftermath
Cooke then calmly walked away and hopped into a nearby taxi that had stopped by the crash site around 1.10am on 22 December last year. Remarkably, an ambulance en route to another emergency—which Cooke had just overtaken—halted to aid the injured motorist.
Instead of owning up, Cooke was driven to a hotel in Castle Bromwich where he checked in for the night, before being arrested the following day.
Justice Served: Jail Time and Long Driving Ban
The Tamworth man refused to comment during police questioning but later pleaded guilty to causing serious injury by dangerous driving. On Monday (16 November), Birmingham Crown Court sentenced him to 18 months behind bars and slapped on a driving ban lasting four years and nine months.
PC Nick James, Central Motorway Police Group, said: “This was a horrific piece of driving, in terrible weather conditions on a part of the motorway that he shouldn’t have been on as the matrix boards were displaying ‘Hard Shoulder for emergency use only.’”
He added, “Cooke was clearly undertaking vehicles travelling around 70mph. The victim suffered multiple fractures and internal bleeding and has yet to return to work. The footage shows how much worse this could have been.”
