A MOTORIST has captured the chain of destruction caused after five “tailgating” vehicles were concertinaed by an lorry on the M1 .
The clip, taken near Sheffield, shows the vehicles in a line and all seriously damaged when they were smashed into each other.
A Royal Mail HGV appears to have crashed into the back of a Parcelforce transit, obliterating the back doors and rear bodywork.
The Parcelforce van was thrown forward with enough force to cause a massive dent in the back of a Ford Fiesta. The Fiesta then hit a Renault car which in turn hit the back of another lorry.
Metres in front, a red car appears severely damaged, with its rear numper hanging off and its back windscreen shattered.
Two ambulances are seen further down the road, and a pile-up of traffic is seen behind.
According to local media, the crash happened on the lower deck of the M1 South at junction 34 at around 4.30pm yesterday.
The footage was posted on Facebook yesterday evening and has since been viewed over 430,000 times and shared over 5,000 times.
Social media users said the footage proved that vehicles should keep a good distance away from each other.
Adam Fletcher said: “That’s why you leave a gap people. It’s frustrates me that even in 50 average speed, everyone’s tailgating.”
Matt Bell wrote: “This is one of the reasons motorcyclist filter between slow moving or stationary traffic. I might have a cute arse but it ain’t got no crumple zone.”
Rachel Watthall added: “Well that’s everyone’s car insurance has just gone up.”
Natasha Cowham said: “So glad I wasn’t under there, I stopped breathing just watching it.”
Alex Tame, the passenger who recorded the footage, posted it online with the caption: “Stuck on the viaduct. Lorry failed to stop and crumpled this lot together. Not my day today.”
He later added: “There was a standstill for over an hour on the viaduct.”
A spokeswoman for Yorkshire Ambulance Service NHS Trust said: “We attended an incident yesterday. There were no serious injuries, but one person was taken to Rotherham and District Hospital.”
A Royal Mail spokeswoman said: “We can confirm that a Royal Mail vehicle was involved in a road traffic accident yesterday afternoon near the M1 junction 32.
“The driver was shaken up, but thankfully not injured. We are currently carrying out an internal investigation into the circumstances.”
A spokeswoman from South Yorkshire Police said: “Police were called at around 3.30pm on Wednesday 25 January to reports of a multi-vehicle collision on the lower deck of the Tinsley viaduct in Sheffield.
“It is reported that a red Citroen DS3, a blue Ford Fiesta, a red Mercedes van, a red DAF lorry, a grey Renault and what is believed to be a road sweeper vehicle were involved in a collision on the southbound carriageway.
“One person is understood to have suffered minor injuries.”
