Browse
Log in / Register
Share
May 10, 2026 — Newly released dashcam footage shows a black car driving south in the northbound lane of the A1 at Swarland, Northumberland, near the Guyzance turn-off. A police patrol stopped the vehicle before it got past the junction. No injuries were reported, and officers confirmed they are still reviewing the clip.
The video, recorded by a driver travelling north, captures the black car approaching head-on in the wrong lane. The car was intercepted before it could continue any further, according to the footage, but the incident has reignited concerns about a stretch of road that has become known for driver confusion.
This was not the first time that junction has been the scene of a wrong-way mistake. Last month, a large motorhome had to perform a U-turn at the same point after entering the wrong side of the road. Locals say the pattern suggests the layout itself is causing drivers to make dangerous choices.
A junction that keeps making headlines
The Guyzance turn-off sits on a section of the A1 where the road changes character with little warning. At some points, the A1 is a divided highway with clear separation between directions. At others, it drops to a single carriageway with at-grade junctions. The result, say residents, is a route that is easy to misread.
Claire Barber, who runs the Alnwick-based communications agency Claire Barber PR, drives the A1 regularly for work and says she no longer trusts it.
“Every time I go there, there’s an incident of some form or another,” she said.
Two days before the latest dashcam footage was shot, she had her own close call at Swarland. According to Barber, a vehicle pulled halfway out from the turn-off, forcing her to move suddenly across the roadway. That put her directly in front of a lorry in the next lane.
“It’s got to the point where I would rather take a different route to Newcastle,” she told reporters.
She also said the nearby West Chevington turn-off is just as stressful. Vehicles waiting to turn often have to sit in a central waiting area while traffic passes in both directions at speed. She described the experience as frightening.
“I hear about an accident and I worry it is going to be friends or my family,” she added.
A road under pressure
The A1 through Northumberland has a serious recent safety record. Six people have been killed in collisions on the county’s stretch of the A1 this year. In January, a man and a woman in their sixties died in a three-vehicle crash near Buckton, and two other drivers were taken to hospital.
Those deaths have added weight to long-running calls for the A1 to be a continuous divided highway across the whole county. Critics argue that the constant switches between two-lane and four-lane sections create exactly the sort of confusion shown in the Swarland dashcam video. Visitors unfamiliar with the road are considered especially vulnerable because they cannot anticipate when the route is about to change.
National Highways, the agency responsible for the A1, has acknowledged the problem. It recently confirmed a package of improvements at the Guyzance junction, focusing on the southbound carriageway. The junction has recorded 19 casualties since 2005.
The key change will be a new 100-meter deceleration lane on the southbound side. That will allow turning traffic to leave the running lane before slowing down, instead of stopping or hesitating while other vehicles continue behind. The agency also plans to improve the central median, lane markings, and signage. Construction work is scheduled to begin next year.
Why wrong-way crashes are so dangerous
Wrong-way driving is a relatively small share of all collisions, but it is far more likely to cause serious injuries or deaths. Researchers at the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety in the U.S. have estimated that hundreds of people die each year on divided highways in wrong-way crashes.
Their studies show that wrong-way collisions are often the result of drivers entering a road at a spot where signs are unclear, visibility is poor, or the road layout does not make direction obvious. The A1 at Swarland fits that pattern, according to road-safety campaigners, because the junction has multiple turning options and no clear visual cue about which carriageway should be used.
Police have not named the driver in the latest incident. It is also not clear whether any warning or penalty has been issued. Northumbria Police said officers were aware of the footage and that inquiries remain active.
What comes next
For now, residents are not waiting for the official work to begin. The dashcam video has been shared widely online, and local drivers are using it to press the case for faster action. They argue that temporary signs, road markings, or barriers should be installed immediately, rather than waiting for the larger construction project.
National Highways has not said whether temporary measures will be added at Guyzance before the permanent improvements are built. The agency has stressed that the junction upgrade remains a priority and that safety work will continue in the meantime.
Claire Barber says she will keep avoiding the A1 until the changes are visible. “If every junction was the same, people wouldn’t get confused,” she said. “Right now, you have to expect the unexpected.”
The footage has added a fresh visual to a debate that has been running for years. Whether it will speed up the planned upgrade remains to be seen, but the video has made one thing clear: the next mistake at Swarland may not be this forgiving.
