The instructor’s dual control car had to be written off
A learner driver’s first experience of using a motorway ended up with them rammed off the road by an impatient Mercedes driver trying to overtake.
Dashcam footage shows how the learner was smashed into on the M1 close to Nottingham.
Instructor Chris had taken a pupil out to give them some experience of driving on the busy road, but was unable to prevent the crash and they were sent into the barriers.
‘The damage was so extensive the car was deemed a total loss,’ he told The Sun.
Thankfully they escaped without any major injury in the incident around 1.45pm on May 7 last year as they were driving from Sutton-in-Ashfield.
Chris shared footage showing how the learner ‘confidently’ built up speed on a slip road at Junction 28, with a Kia moving out to the middle lane to allow their Peugeot to merge in.
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The red Mercedes sped up and crashed into the learner driver (Picture: Newsflare/Christopher Leigh)
But a red Mercedes SLK200 driver was far less considerate, and video shows how them accelerating from behind to overtake.
They then lose control and swerve into the Peugeot, smashing it into the hard shoulder at a speed of 60mph.
The car was so badly damaged that the front wheel was almost completely ripped off, and the car had to be written off.
Learner drivers used to be banned from driving on motorways until they passed their test, but since 2018 they have been allowed to practice on them if they are with an approved instructor in a dual-control car with L-plates.
Chris said he has tried to take all his learner drivers out on the motorway since the law changed.
‘It equips them for real-life driving instead of limiting them to merely passing the driving test,’ he said.
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The damage was so extensive the car was deemed a total loss.