Van Thief Drives 50 Miles against Traffic on Motorway

A Romford man took the ride of his life last week after stealing a van and leading police on a dangerous chase. In fact, he was able to evade police along the A414 before heading up the M11 in the wrong direction. He managed to go some 50 miles against traffic before colliding with an HGV near Godmanchester.

News reports identified the thief as 19-year-old Ryan Nee of Harebell Way in Romford. No details were offered as to the motivation behind his actions, but you can bet the young man has probably never received corporate driver training. If he has, he was certainly not putting into practice all the things he learned about safety.

Police say as many as 100 vehicles had to take evasive action in order to avoid colliding with Nee on the motorway. It is a wonder no one was killed or seriously injured. The only positive thing we can say is that the theft occurred during the early hours of the morning, which limited the amount of traffic on the roads. There is no telling how bad things could have been had Nee decided to steal the van at a time closer to sunrise.

Nee was remanded to the local authorities and charged with burglary, theft, dangerous driving, driving without insurance or a licence, and taking a motor vehicle without consent. He has an appearance scheduled before the Crown Court in August.

Be Careful out There

The HGV Training Centre wants to remind all of our readers to be careful out there. If nothing else, this story is a perfect example to illustrate that you never know what other drivers are doing or thinking. You can take all the precautions in the world and still find yourself victimised by someone who completely disregards the law and common sense.

On a more positive note, we are happy to say that we provide comprehensive corporate driver training for companies operating fleets of vans, HGVs and other commercial vehicles. Our corporate programmes are designed to help you train the new driver just getting started or provide remedial training to your current crew. Our classes focus on both highway safety and hazard avoidance. We do what we do because we believe that proper training is one of the best ways to protect your drivers, your company, and everyone else on the road.

Individuals not yet working as commercial drivers can take advantage of our classes as well. We offer a full list of training programmes able to prepare you to be a professional lorry, coach, bus, or van driver. All of our classes meet government regulations in every detail. Better yet, our training is designed to prepare you to pass your tests the first time. We boast a 92% first-time pass rate on the theory test.

For more information about training with us, call our free phone number. We will get you started right away at one of our 45+ facilities around the UK.

Sources:

1. Gizmodo – http://www.gizmodo.co.uk/2014/05/van-thief-cheats-death-driving-50-miles-along-the-m11-in-the-wrong-direction/
2. BBC – https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-27516527