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The M40 motorway is the second motorway in the British transport network to connect London to Birmingham. The first part of the motorway was built in the 1960s and connected London to Oxford. It was not until 1990 that the second section, linking Oxford to Birmingham, was constructed. The M40 motorway hit the headlines on 18th November 1993. The previous night, a minibus carrying 15 pupils from Hagley R.C High School in Worcestershire from a concert at the Albert Hall in London, crashed on a section of the motorway near Warwick after the teacher who was driving the minibus allegedly fell asleep at the wheel. Ten pupils and the teacher died at the scene, an eleventh pupil died in hospital two days later from their injuries. Four other pupils survived and made a full recovery. The tragedy resulted in seatbelts becoming compulsory equipment on all buses and coaches, although it is still not compulsory for them to be worn. Route of the M40The M40 begins near Uxbridge just inside the M25 and finishes at the M42 near Birmingham. Junctions are as follows
An anecdoteThe fact that the M40 led from London to Oxford and the M11 from London to Cambridge led to a famous sketch in one episode of the BBC's sitcom Yes, Minister. Jim Hacker, a Government minister and a lead character in the show, pondered why Britain had fast motorways to these ancient university towns but not to important seaports such as Dover and Felixstowe. Sir Humphrey Appleby, his Permanent Private Secretary, explained that the motorway network had been designed by civil servants, all of whom had been educated at one university or the other. See also
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