Lorry Crashes Through M60 Barrier, Triggers Eight-Vehicle Pile-Up and Massive Motorway Chaos

• by Arlen Fitzpatrick
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M60 Motorway Crash: Lorry Crosses Central Reservation, Triggers Unprecedented Chaos

Monday morning traffic is tough at the best of times, but what happened on the M60 on July 8, 2025, left drivers shaking in their seats. Just after rush hour kicked off, a lorry ripped through the motorway’s concrete central reservation near Manchester, instantly turning a routine commute into a nightmare. The lorry crashed across traffic, smashing into cars and vans in a scene drivers described as "terrifying like something out of a disaster film." Eight vehicles tangled in the chaos, with metal crunching and debris spraying across both carriageways.

Miraculously, there were no fatalities, but the shockwaves from the crash went way beyond the incident site. More than a dozen motorists and passengers needed hospital checks for shock and injuries, while the sound of shattering glass and screeching brakes echoed for minutes after the dust settled. The pile-up left traffic backed up as far as the eye could see. Some drivers got out of their cars, just staring at the twisted wreckage, trying to get their heads around what they’d just witnessed. Few could believe a lorry could cross a busy motorway divider in broad daylight.

Assessing the Damage: What Happened After the Crash

Police and emergency services arrived within minutes, but the scale of the clean-up was massive. The M60—a vital ring road that keeps Greater Manchester moving—shut down in both directions for an unprecedented 24 hours. Recovery teams needed cranes to haul away mangled metal, and engineers inspected the reservation to see if further damage could have made things even worse. Every update from authorities sent another wave of frustration through social media, with countless drivers stuck for hours and bus schedules torn up across the region.

The central question: how did the lorry end up bulldozing through the barrier? Investigators are focusing on what could have sent such a large vehicle off course—was it a mechanical failure, a medical emergency, or driver error? CCTV footage is under review, and witnesses have been called up to provide statements in hopes of piecing the moments leading up to the crash together. Insurance assessors are already fielding claims from shaken motorists whose everyday journeys turned upside-down in a matter of seconds.

For drivers and local businesses, the M60 crash delivered a stark reminder of how much Greater Manchester relies on smooth motorway traffic. The disruption reached beyond just cars—deliveries, bus services, and emergency routes all felt the squeeze. With more than 180,000 vehicles using sections of the M60 daily, the fallout was massive. Engineers worked through the night patching up the torn reservation, while police provided updates every few hours to a region desperate for the road to reopen.

No one will forget the day the lorry crossed the line—literally—and left a motorway, and its commuters, completely shaken.