The driver is seen turning off a slip road near Milton Keynes and into oncoming traffic, crossing two lanes before driving the wrong way down the overtaking lane.
Flagged down by other drivers, the motorist realised his mistake and put his car in reverse, heading back up the motorway before driving the wrong way up the slip road.
Miraculously, no-one was hurt in the incident which took place on the southbound M1 around 1pm on Monday 1st April.
Lorry driver Mark Thomas, 54, from Shrewsbury, who caught the images on his dashcam, said the incident left him “really shaken up.”
He said: “I was driving in the middle lane and noticed in the distance [something] was not quite right. I was doing around 60mph when I saw the car coming up on the fast lane, and slowed down to 40mph in an instant.
“I just slowed right down and put on the hazard warning lights. I could see a young bloke in the white van next to me brake hard and he was really straining on the seatbelt.”
Mr Thomas said the driver looked between 65 and 70 and was lucky that it was a clear day because he could have easily “caused carnage.”
“He tried reversing back down the carriageway a couple of times until he weaved his way back down the fast lane and goes the wrong way down the slip road.”
The dashcam footage will add to the debate around older drivers on the UK’s roads, following Prince Philip’s involvement in a collision outside Sandringham earlier this year.
Prince Philip was unhurt in the crash, which left two other motorists with minor injuries, and voluntarily gave up his licence following intense media coverage.
For more information on driving over 70, read the RAC’s guide.
Copyright Press Association 2019. Motoring News articles do not reflect the RAC's views unless clearly stated.
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