Terrifying moment ladder falls off van overtaking at more than 70mph and spins across busy motorway
- Luke Kibble, 23, caught the ordeal on his dashcam when the ladder came loose
- It fell off the van and into the path of other cars around 5.30pm on Sunday
- It happened on a stretch of the M5 near Tewkesbury, Gloucestershire
A motorway driver had to slam on the brakes at 70mph when a ladder flew off the top of a van overtaking him.
Luke Kibble’s dashcam recorded the hair-raising moment he narrowly avoided the section of metal ladder as it spun across the M5 near Tewkesbury in Gloucestershire.
Footage filmed at 5.30pm on July 5 shows his car travelling at 70mph as a white van overtakes and its ladder comes loose.
The ladder from a van overtaking Luke Kibble, 23, on the M5 near Tewkesbury, Gloucestershire came loose
He confirmed that no one was hurt.
Civil servant Mr Kibble said: ‘I remained pretty calm, that’s why I braked rather than swerve into either lane.
‘The ladder sliding went straight past my wheels, I didn’t hit it.
‘I carried on and the van driver pulled up on the hard shoulder further up.’
The ladder fell off the van and into the paths of the other cars around 5.30pm on Sunday
One of the ladders made its way across the three lanes, meaning a car in the outside lane had to swerve to avoid it
As the footage begins, the van is seen overtaking Mr Kibble in the outside lane carrying the ladder on its roof.
Suddenly, the load begins to slide to the right and part of the ladder whips around.
The whole thing is sent tumbling off the back of the van and onto the road.
It crashes down and sends part directly into Mr Kibble’s lane, forcing him to slam on the brakes.
The ladder continues to veer across all three lanes, forcing a black car on Mr Kibble’s left-hand side to swerve quickly out of the way.
Mr Kibble was forced to slam on the brakes as part of the ladder fell into his lane directly in front of his car
Gobsmacked, Mr Kibble shared the hair-raising moment on social media. He posted the clip saying: ‘Driving up the M5 today. Couldn’t Adam & Eve it. The van driver did stop shortly after.’
The dramatic clip has stunned social media users.
One person wrote: ‘Lucky not to decapitate someone with that.’
Another user commented: ‘They were so close to going into the other carriageway that would have caused carnage.’
A third added: ‘If more vehicles were on that road would have been a different story.’