Police still hunting driver after terrifying smash on M1 near Sheffield

Shocking footage shared online shows the silver Ford Ranger careering into a black Nissan Qashqai on the northbound carriageway of the motorway, between junctions 35 and 35a, near Sheffield and Barnsley, as the motorist recklessly attempts to squeeze between it and a white car in the neighbouring lane.

Police today revealed checks had shown the truck is not insured and there is no registered keeper, and officers have appealed for members of the public to help them find the driver.

Remarkably, no one was seriously harmed in the collision, which happened on Monday at around 8.15pm.

But the occupants of the Nissan, including two small children, sustained minor injuries.

Two lanes of the motorway were briefly closed while the Nissan was recovered.

PC Lee Thickett, investigating, said: “Footage of this collision, captured on a dashcam, has already been circulated widely on social media, and it is clear that this was a distressing incident for those involved.

“Checks carried out on the vehicle have shown that there is no registered keeper and that the car is not insured. For this reason we are asking anyone who knows anything about this vehicle, who might have been driving it, or about the number plate LT55 UPE, to please contact us.

“We are continuing with our enquiries, but would ask anyone with information about the Ford Ranger in this footage to call 101, quoting incident number 827 of Monday, July 29.”

Annie McGuire, whose children were in the Nissan, shared the footage in an attempt to trace the driver. She said the car was a write-off and that she and her family had ‘the fright of our lives’, but she thanked the occupants of the white car and staff at the Premier Inn Sheffield/Barnsley for looking after them.