Drivers' tales: It was like something from a disaster movie

Published on Tuesday 7 December 2010 18:38

A road sign says it all Motorists left stranded on Scotland's motorways on Monday night spoke of the chaos and frustration of being trapped in what one driver described as being "like something from a disaster movie."

Jacqui Petrie, who works for a computer firm in Livingston, was forced to sleep in her car after becoming gridlocked on the M73 during an 18-hour ordeal as she battled her way home to Cumbernauld.

Mrs Petrie, 47, said: "It was just horrendous. I left the office when it closed at noon and only got as far as Harthill on the M8 by 10pm. The road was diabolical, with compacted, churned-up ice. When I reached the M73 I hit more queues and sat there for two hours as it got colder and colder, with the temperature going down to -11C.

"Luckily I had a heavy duvet coat on, which was a life-saver, and also wrapped an old dog blanket that was in the car around myself, and slept for a while around 3am. It was a really frustrating experience - you feel very isolated, with no-one in authority telling you what was happening or being done."

'People were scared'

Dr Eamonn O'Neill, a lecturer in journalism at the University of Strathclyde was stuck for nine hours on the M74 on what he described as "a scene from a disaster movie".

He said: "There were parents abandoning their cars and carrying children no older than three or four months through the snow. I saw pensioners who were very frightened, families arguing, and people in tears behind their wheels. Folk were dressed for the office and they were scared. They were expecting someone to tell them what was happening, or give them some kind of direction. But there was nothing."

'We never saw police'

Lisa Boden, who is five months pregnant was stranded on the M8 with her husband Tim, two- year-old daughter Mia and the family dog for 11 hours in what she said was: "a horrendous journey".

She said: "Despite this, more cars were allowed to enter the motorway - including large lorries which were struggling to cope with the icy conditions."

Lorraine McCloy, a nursery worker from Hamilton, had to walk the last three miles home, after being on the M8 for 13 hours in a journey which normally takes 25 minutes.

She said: "One of the things that got to me was that the radio was saying police were doing everything they could. But we never saw a police officer the whole time we were on the motorway. I felt very isolated and frustrated."