A MOTORIST took his life in his hands when he got out of his car in the middle of a busy motorway– after binging on a cocktail of prescription drugs.
Andrew Griffiths, 45, incredibly escaped serious injury or death as cars and lorries thundered past just inches away.
Terrified drivers swerved avoid to avoid him as they called 999 to alert traffic cops.
Dashcam footage captured the drama and also showed him weaving into the central reservation of the M6 near junction 36 as he drove north around 2pm on August 6 last year.
One witness gave an emergency call handler a running commentary as his camera caught the Vauxhall Grandland almost slamming into the barrier.
Griffiths then parked up on chevron markings between a junction slip road and lane one and climbed out of his car to inspect his front tyre.
The witness was caught on his own camera telling the call handler: “This man is in danger,” then yelling to Griffiths: “Get out of the road.”
Griffiths got back in and pulled directly into the path of a campervan before veering across the lanes in wet weather conditions described as “atrocious”.
Other motorists were convinced he was drunk but when police finally stopped him breath and drug wipe tests proved negative.
A urine sample revealed the presence of metabolised morphine and codeine which the prosecution at Carlisle crown court accepted could have come from an overuse of co-codamol.
Griffiths was also on the antidepressant sertraline but was confused about how much he had taken.
He left work early due to feeling “funny”, had a drink of Red Bull and headed for home on the M6.
Holly Nelson, mitigating, said he should not have been driving.
Griffiths, of Morecambe, Lancashire, admitted dangerous driving and driving while unfit through drugs.
Judge Nicholas Barker described the witness’s footage as “extraordinary”.
He told Griffiths: “The risks that were occasioned during this course of driving to other road users were extreme and, consequentially, could have been fatal for not only you but many people.”
He said it was impossible to be certain whether extra medication was responsible, as no scientific evidence had been provided.
But he added: “It causes the court genuine concern that if a person has taken an extra dose they are then essentially unaware of the fact they are driving in this manner.
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“If that is right then manufacturers, prescribers of that medication should take a good deal of care to inform those who take it.”
Griffiths was given an 18-month community order comprising unpaid work and a night-time curfew and an 18-month driving ban. He was ordered to take an extended re-test when the ban is completed.
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