Lorry smash motorist unscathed

21/09/11

By Emma McFarnon

A motorist who jumped to safety just seconds before a lorry smashed into his car on the hard shoulder has escaped unscathed.

The Manchester man had pulled over to change a tyre next to the A1, near Wetherby, and was looking for a spare tyre in the boot of his car when he turned around to see the lorry heading towards him.

The motorist hurled himself over the crash barrier at the side of the road, escaping seconds before the lorry ploughed into his car.

North Yorkshire Police said the accident happened just after 8.30am yesterday when the man stopped his silver Mazda 323 on the hard shoulder of the northbound A1, just one mile north of junction 46.

His car was completely written off when the red Scania lorry ploughed into it. Police are appealing to anyone who witnessed the incident to contact them.

Traffic Constable Rob Roberts, of Harrogate Roads Policing Group, said: "Something told him to look over his shoulder and if he hadn't, we could have been dealing with an extremely tragic outcome."