The shortest motorway in the UK is in the Cotswolds but you have got special permission to drive on it and it’s only 500 yards long!
Not many people have heard of the M96 which is a four lane motorway and which has more crashes on it than all the other motorways put together in the country.
This mini motorway is based at the Fire Service College in Moreton-in-Marsh and its purpose is to train blue light emergency workers in how to deal with major traffic incidents.
The M69 helps to train helicopter emergency personnel and paramedics, as well as fire and rescue service teams and the motorway has the capacity to run several incidents at one time. It can be used by any agency that works in the road industry and needs to train in a safe realistic way.
Crashes can be simulated to help the emergency services and these can include multi-vehicle pile-ups with lorries, cars and buses, with volunteers playing the part of motorists and pedestrians caught up in the fake crashes. These horrific crashes are simulated to help prepare emergency services for the worst.
Among those that use the facility include West Mercia Police, Hereford and Worcester Fire Service, as well as West Midlands Ambulance Service, West Midlands Police and West Midlands Fire Service.
So what are the longest and shortest motorways in the UK?
As for the longest motorway in the UK the RAC, has it listed as the M6, which runs from Catthorpe, Leicestershire to Gretna Green in Scotland a distance of 236 miles..
Close to the Cotswolds is the M5 where there is the 163 mile-long stretch which links the West Midlands to the south coast of Devon.
For the shortest menu there is the M50, which at 21 miles long is off the M5 going towards south Wales.
The M96 often comes up in quizzes as being the UK’s shortest motorway – although the actual shortest is the A308(M) which runs off the M4 near Reading in Berkshire and that is just 0.6 miles in length.
Thanks to Leigh Robinson at CotswoldDriver.co.uk a Western Group Member
