Awards for 'courageous' police officers who stopped car driving wrong way down M4 in Berkshire
Dash cam footage captures the moment PCs Mark Martin-Dye and Callum Bushell stopped a car which was travelling the wrong way down the M4.
Two 'courageous' Thames Valley police officers who managed to stop a car which was travelling the wrong way down the M4 on Christmas Day have been awarded for their bravery.
PCs Mark Martin-Dye and Callum Bushell were dispatched to the stretch of road between junction 5 for the Langley interchange and junction 6 for the Tuns Lane Interchange, at around 3.10am on 25 December 2020.
Driving towards the incident with blues lights illuminated, they saw a vehicle heading towards them in lane three at around 70mph. PC Martin-Dye slowed the police car down to a low speed and activated the sirens to make the driver aware of their presence.
The officer also pointed the police car slightly towards lane three to encourage the vehicle to stop, but the driver failed to react, so he then decided to make tactical contact with the vehicle to bring it to a stop.
The two vehicles collided, causing the offending vehicle to travel approximately 50m before coming to a stop in lane one, facing the wrong way. No-one was injured.
PC Martin-Dye moved the police car into position behind the offending vehicle to provide cover from oncoming traffic.
PC Bushell pulled the driver from the vehicle while PC Martin-Dye closed lanes one and two before several other units attended to assist.
The offending driver passed a roadside breath test and provided a negative drug wipe. She was detained under the Mental Health Act 1983.
PC Martin-Dye said: “This is the only time I've been praised for crashing a police car!
“Working on Roads Policing, I had always known that I may have to deal with a wrong way runner, however the danger of the situation did not really hit me until sometime after the incident.
“I'm just delighted that my training paid off and that nobody was hurt.
“The support I received from my colleagues afterwards was amazing.”
PC Bushell said: “I feel privileged to receive this award and appreciate the recognition for our actions from that night.”
Chief Constable Jason Hogg presented PCs Mark Martin-Dye and Callum Bushell with commendations at a ceremony at the Thames Valley Police base in Sulhamstead on 28 November.
Both of the officers involved have either received or are due to receive bravery awards from the Police Federation.
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