Police are searching for a man after a car being pursued by officers crashed near the Lea Interchange, having been driven the wrong way down the A12.
Officers tried to stop a car on Homerton Road in Hackney on Saturday evening, at around 7.29pm. The driver kept going, and a short chase followed.
According to the Metropolitan Police, officers called off the chase after the car began to drive down the wrong way of the A12. Shortly after, the car crashed with another car close to the Lea Interchange.
A Met Police spokesperson said: “The driver of the car being pursued left the scene prior to police arrival. A search remains ongoing as to his whereabouts and at this stage, no arrests have been made.”
A passenger in the suspect car was taken to hospital by the London Air Ambulance, where her injuries were deemed to be not life-threatening nor life-changing.
Three other people were in the second car, with one of them taken to hospital with non life-threatening or life-changing injuries.
Delays lasted for hours as motorists were stuck in traffic and both lanes were blocked during the recovery process.
Wrong-way driving is among the most dangerous behaviours on fast roads: a head-on closing speed on a dual carriageway leaves other drivers almost no time to react, which is why police pursuits are called off when the risk to the public outweighs the chance of a stop. Officers will instead rely on cameras, witness accounts and vehicle identification to trace a driver who has fled.
The investigation continues, and anyone with information about the crash or the driver’s whereabouts is urged to contact police.
Road disorder remains a recurring problem across the capital: a man was rushed to hospital after a collision shut Upper Elmers End Road in Beckenham, while multiple crashes caused long delays on the M25 at Chertsey.
