Drivers safe as car hits barrier

Traffic ground to a halt after a white Citroen crashed between junctions 16 and 17 shortly after 9.30am on Saturday.

The car was being driven by a woman from the Gloucester area, whose husband and two-year-old daughter were passengers.

Police believe the driver swerved to avoid colliding with another car when the accident happened on the westbound carriageway.

Officers said the Citroen smashed into the central reservation destroying six metal supports before bouncing back across three busy lanes of traffic and coming to rest near to the hard shoulder.

A blue BMW, driven by a Sussex man, was travelling in the opposite direction when it was struck by debris.

Police said motorists had a lucky escape as no one was injured in the incident.

Acting Sergeant Glen Powell, of Swindon traffic police, said the barrier did its job.

"These barriers are designed to bounce cars out of lane three, where cars travel well in excess of 70 mph, and into the relative safety of the hard shoulder," he said.

"But motorists had a lucky escape.

"It was a Saturday morning and the traffic was not light."

The westbound carriageway was reduced to one lane and the eastbound was closed while fire crews cleared up.

The accident caused tailbacks of about three miles even though both carriageways were quickly re-opened.

Acting Sgt Powell added: "It appears that the woman did the best she could to avoid an accident.

"We would not wish to attach any blame to the driver but we would remind motorists of the golden two-second rule.

"Drivers should always maintain a gap to ensure that they have time to react.

"You never know what is going to happen."

Debris caused a collision on the A419, close to the Commonhead roundabout, on Friday.

The accident happened at about 8.30pm when a lorry driver stopped to help two motorists who had hit debris on the northbound carriageway.

A van then ploughed into the back of the truck. No one was injured.

Kevin Shoesmith