Greater Manchester Police (GMP) has fired a warned after a number of incidents in which yobs have thrown objects such as bricks at vehicles on the M60.
Last year, there was a series of incidents on the motorway which led to windscreens being damaged.
In one instance, the windscreen of a car was smashed as a woman was driving along the motorway, which forced her to stop on the hard shoulder.
Superintendent Julie Ellison, of GMP’s Specialist Operation Teams, said: “It goes without saying that behaviour such as this is reckless and puts multiple lives in unnecessary danger.
“Not only can it cause serious damage to vehicles, but even more worryingly, it can result in serious injury to those travelling in the vehicle and potentially cause a devastating collision.
Train driver on Bolton line hit with brick at 70mph
“We already have officers patrolling known locations, who will not hesitate to take action against perpetrators, to ensure that those travelling can do so safely, so I would encourage people to think about the consequences of a spilt second silly decision or an attempt to show off, that it can have serious consequences for them and others.
Regional director for National Highways in the North West, Alan Shepherd, said: “When the evenings get lighter we do get an increase of incidents involving children and teenagers playing near motorways and on motorway bridges.
“Staff at our regional operations centre near Warrington work closely with the North West Motorway Police Group to monitor our motorways around the clock with an extensive network of CCTV cameras recording at locations all the time.
“If the threat of prosecution is not warning enough, we would ask parents to have a conversation with youngsters about the potentially tragic consequences of stone throwing and of playing near the motorway generally.”
The warning comes after stones were thrown at buses on the Leigh busway, causing disruption to services as they had to be diverted for the safety of the driver and passengers.
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