M1 crash J38 southbound

Crash on the M1 southbound at J38 on Friday 30 October 2026, from 15:27. Cleared at 17:33 after 2 h 5 min. Timeline of reports from TomTom and the motorway signs.

Status

Cleared 17:33 on 30 Oct 2026, after 2 h 5 min

Location

M1 southbound · J38

Reported as

Collision

At its worst

Stationary traffic · delay ~52 min

Sources

TomTom ×2 · Motorway signs ×3

Timeline

1. Fri 15:21 Motorway signs: “M1 J38 COLLISION”
2. Fri 15:27 TomTom: queueing traffic, “Stationary traffic”, delay ~42 min
3. Fri 15:27 Motorway signs: “COLLISION SLOW DOWN”
4. Fri 15:32 TomTom: now says collision, “Stationary traffic, Accident”
5. Fri 15:37 TomTom: delay now ~33 min (was ~52)
6. Fri 15:46 Motorway signs: “M1 J38 COLLISION”
7. Fri 15:52 TomTom: “Queuing traffic, Accident”
8. Fri 16:33 Motorway signs no longer show “M1 J38 COLLISION”
9. Fri 16:37 TomTom: now says queueing traffic, “Slow traffic”
10. Fri 16:47 TomTom no longer reports it
11. Fri 17:03 Motorway signs no longer show “COLLISION SLOW DOWN”
12. Fri 17:03 Motorway signs no longer show “M1 J38 COLLISION”
13. Fri 17:03 All clear: no source reports it any more
14. Fri 17:07 TomTom: queueing traffic, “Slow traffic”, delay ~3 min
15. Fri 17:33 TomTom no longer reports it
16. Fri 17:33 All clear: no source reports it any more

Source reports

• Slow traffic
• Overhead signs read “M1 J38 COLLISION” (2 signs; e.g. M1 southbound within J41). Marker placed near M1 J38 using the signs there, so it is approximate.
• Overhead signs read “COLLISION SLOW DOWN” (1 sign; furthest along: M1 southbound within J38).
• Overhead signs read “M1 J38 COLLISION” (3 signs; e.g. M1 southbound between J40 and J39). Marker placed near M1 J38 using the signs there, so it is approximate.

Other recent incidents on the M1

• M1 crash J42–J43 northboundyesterday 22:32 · cleared after 1 h 21 min
• M1 crash J43–J42 southboundyesterday 20:39 · cleared after 1 h 44 min
• M1 crash J9–J10 northboundyesterday 19:33 · cleared after 49 min
• M1 crash J17–J16 southboundyesterday 15:34 · cleared after 47 min
• M1 crash J34 northboundyesterday 15:09 · cleared after 42 min
• M1 crash J22–J23 northboundyesterday 14:46 · cleared after 47 min
• M1 crash J20–J21 northboundyesterday 12:30 · cleared after 2 h 51 min
• M1 crash J37–J36 southboundyesterday 08:35 · cleared after 44 min
• M1 stopped traffic J32–J33 northboundyesterday 07:33 · cleared after 1 h 16 min
• M1 crash J8–J9 northboundyesterday 06:00 · cleared after 3 h 31 min

Live traffic and past incidents at M1 J38.

The sources don't report causes or injuries, so neither does this page. Times are UK time. For alerts, follow @motorways.me on Bluesky.