Terrifying moment a driver swerves across the road in traffic before stepping out of his car in a busy INTERMEDIATE road

A CAR man took his life when he stepped out of his car in the middle of a busy highway – after drinking a cocktail of prescription drugs.

Andrew Griffiths, 45, miraculously escaped serious injury or death when cars and trucks sped past just inches away.

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Terrified motorists ducked to avoid him when they called 999 to alert traffic police.

Camera footage captured the film and also showed him weaving into the central reserve of the M6 ​​near junction 36 as he drove north around 2pm on August 6 last year.

A witness gave an emergency call handler a running commentary when his camera caught the Vauxhall Grandland almost crashing into the fence.

Griffiths then parked on the chevron line between the junction and the number one lane and climbed out of the car to check his front tyres.

The witness who was caught on camera told the call handler, “This man is in danger,” then shouted to Griffiths, “Get out of the way.”

Griffiths turned around and pulled into the path of a truck before crossing lanes in wet weather conditions described as “brutal”.

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Other drivers believed he was drunk but when police eventually stopped him breathing and drug wipe tests came back negative.

A urine sample showed the presence of metabolised morphine and codeine which prosecutors in Carlisle court accepted may have resulted from co-codamol abuse.

Griffiths was also taking the antidepressant sertraline but was confused about how much she had taken.

He left work early because he felt “funny”, drank a glass of Red Bull and went home in the M6.

Holly Nelson, mitigated, said he shouldn’t be driving.

Griffiths, of Morecambe, Lancashire, admitted to dangerous driving and driving while unfit for drugs.

Judge Nicholas Barker described the witness footage as “extraordinary”.

He told Griffiths: “These occasional risks of driving to other road users are extremely serious and can therefore be fatal not only to you but to many others. people”.

He said it was impossible to be certain whether supplements were the cause, as no scientific evidence was provided.

But he added: “It makes the court really concerned that if a person has overdosed they will be essentially unaware of the fact that they are driving in this way.

“If that’s true, then manufacturers who prescribe that drug should be careful to inform people taking that drug.”

Griffiths received an 18-month community order that included unpaid work and a night curfew and an 18-month driving ban. He was ordered to take an extended re-test once the ban was completed.

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