Lorry driver faces prison after reversing 400 metres along live Almería motorway

A lorry driver on Almería’s A-7 is currently under investigation for a crime that carries up to five years in prison. After getting stuck in a tailback, the man rolled backwards along the live carriageway for more than 400 metres to escape it. 

Traffic cameras caught the whole manoeuvre

The driver of an articulated lorry was travelling along the A-7 through Almería province when he ran into a tailback. Rather than wait for it to clear, he began reversing along the live carriageway, aiming to reach an earlier exit and leave the motorway altogether.

Guardia Civil said the manoeuvre covered more than 400 metres, all of it in the same lane still being used by traffic travelling in the correct direction behind him, on a stretch where vehicles can legally reach 120 km/h, the general limit on Spanish motorways.

The footage was picked up by the Centro de Gestión de Tráfico Sureste, the regional traffic control centre run by the Dirección General de Tráfico (DGT, Spain’s national traffic authority), whose fixed cameras monitor the motorway around the clock. 

How officers traced the lorry

Officers from Guardia Civil’s Unidad de Investigación de Seguridad Vial (Road Safety Investigation Unit), part of its Grupo de Investigación y Análisis de Tráfico (GIAT, Traffic Investigation and Analysis Group), reviewed the recordings frame by frame to identify the vehicle and trace the driver.

Guardia Civil has not released the driver’s name, age or nationality, nor said exactly when the manoeuvre took place, only that the investigation became public on Saturday August 22. 

The same charge used in ‘kamikaze’ driving cases

The driver has not been arrested. He is under investigation, or investigado, meaning a case file has been opened and could be sent to a judge, though this does not automatically mean he will face trial.

The penalty range reported by Guardia Civil, two to five years in prison, a fine of 12 to 24 months’ salary and a driving ban of six to 10 years, matches article 381.1 of Spain’s Penal Code. That article covers driving with manifest disregard for the lives of others, the offence normally applied to wrong-way ‘kamikaze’ driving on motorways, rather than the standard reckless driving charge under article 380, which carries a maximum of two years in prison.

A stretch of motorway used by thousands of summer-time drivers

The A-7 through Almería forms part of the main coastal route linking Málaga, Granada and Murcia, and carries heavy holiday traffic through the summer, including many foreign residents and tourists driving between the Costa del Sol and the Costa de Almería.

Guardia Civil said the manoeuvre posed a risk to the safety of other road users on a road built for continuous forward traffic, rather than vehicles moving against the flow. The case remains open, and no court date has yet been set.