Shocking moment a lorry swerves out of the way of a van that pulls into its path after traffic in its lane suddenly grinds to a halt

  • Dashcam footage from inside the lorry captures moment near Gatwick Airport 
  • Incident took place on the southbound part of the M23, near to junction nine 
  • Ford Transit seen queuing with other motorists in lane one ahead of slip road 
  • Instinct kicks in and driver swerves into the second lane as HGV approaches
  • Footage was uploaded onto social media and people quick to comment on crash 

By CHARLIE BAYLISS FOR MAILONLINE

Published: | Updated:

This is the shocking moment a van tries to avoid hitting the car ahead of it - only to swerve into the lane of a moving lorry.

Dashcam footage from inside the lorry captured the incident on the southbound part of the M23, near junction nine for Gatwick Airport, where roadworks had been taking place.

The Ford Transit van can be seen queuing with other motorists in lane one ahead of the upcoming exit slip road. 

Suddenly the cars in the left-hand lane come to an abrupt halt, forcing drivers to slam on the brakes.

Although no-one in the left lane is hit, the driver of the dark grey Ford Transit looks as if he is about to ram into the vehicle in front of him.

Instinct appears to kick in and the Ford Transit swerves into the second lane just as a HGV is approaching.

The lorry driver, given just a split second to react and with nowhere to go, keeps going on his path and smashes straight into the van.

After the collision the HGV slows down as the other traffic in lane one keeps moving at a steady pace.

It is not believed the van driver, who would have been sitting on the side of the vehicle which hit the HGV, was seriously injured in the collision.  

Dashcam footage from inside the lorry captured the incident on the southbound part of the M23, near junction nine for Gatwick Airport

Dashcam footage from inside the lorry captured the incident on the southbound part of the M23, near junction nine for Gatwick Airport

The footage was uploaded onto YouTube yesterday, and users on the site have been quick to comment on the accident.

Daniel Wilson said: 'That's why you take the hit in situations like that. Swerving invariably leads to a worse outcome be it rolling the car, having a head on or being bummed by a lorry.'

Alex wrote: 'That's what you get for being in someone's ass. That two seconds gap gives you time to react, but people just ignore it nowadays.'

Heene added: 'There was no reason for the cars in front to bunch up, they were too close together and one of them braking caused the chain reaction of braking behind them.' 

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