Driver Arrested Over M3 Crash

At 12.36pm on Thursday, October 20th, a white Nissan Almera collided with a red articulated flatbed lorry just after junction 7.

The lorry, which was carrying metal, was stationary in lane 1 at the end of the queue of traffic which had developed following an earlier diesel spill.

As a result of the collision, the Nissan became partially embedded under the rear of the lorry’s trailer.

The front-seat passenger of the car, a 35-year-old woman from Essex, suffered potentially life threatening injuries and was airlifted to Southampton General Hospital.

The Nissan driver, a 40-year-old woman from Somerset, was treated in hospital and was later arrested on suspicion of dangerous driving and bailed until January.

The lorry driver was uninjured.

Sergeant Rob Heard from the Road Deaths Investigation team at Eastleigh said: 

“This was a serious collision which resulted in what were initially believed to be life threatening injuries.

"The injured woman’s condition is described as serious but no longer life threatening and her family have been informed.

“We’re keen to speak to anyone who witnessed the incident, or saw the vehicles shortly before it.”

The original traffic jam started at around 8.30am on Thursday October the 20th when a fuel tanker was involved in a collision with a van and spilled around 500 litres of diesel into the M3 northbound near Hook. No-one was hurt.