A shocking near miss was captured by traffic police dash cam as cars narrowly avoided a pile-up in the Easter Sunday traffic.
The roads policing unit from Merseyside Police were parked up in the hard shoulder of the M57 watching as traffic quickly piled up.
A video filmed on a police dash cam shows drivers slamming on their brakes to avoid crashing into the back of other cars.
A handful of drivers swerve suddenly from the middle lane to avoid a multi-car crash on the busy approach to Switch Island.
Sharing the video on Twitter, Merseyside Police slammed the 'terrible driving' on display on the motorway, as they watched from the hard shoulder.
A tweet posted on Easter Sunday said: "Keep an eye on lane two on the approach to Switch Island on the M57. Some terrible driving and lack of observations by a couple of drivers here.
"Don't just look at the end of your bonnet, look as far ahead as possible for hazards and drive accordingly."
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The video was captured by a police dash cam as officers gave rear light protection to a broken down car ahead on the hard shoulder.
Other drivers joined in criticising the drivers over their worrying near misses, with one Twitter user replying: "Funny thing - if I see like three or more cars ahead apply their brakes I gently apply my brakes. And I look way up for any hazards."
John McQuay tweeted: "People seem very quick to point the finger at speed. Speed isn't the issue here - it's awareness, or lack thereof in this case.
"Nothing happened 'suddenly' in that clip, all the clues were there. In fact, very little really happens 'suddenly'. I wish more had training on RoadCraft."
The roads policing unit were out across the city conducting stop checks over the Easter bank holiday to check for drink and drug drivers.
