Motorists heading in and out of Birmingham faced heavy delays yesterday after crashes on the M6 and the city's Broad Street killed one and left another injured.
Lanes going in and out of the Five Ways island were closed for several hours after a bus collided with a car on Broad Street.
The crash involving the single decker bus happened on the junction of Sheepcote Street at about 2.20pm.
The motorist, who suffered a broken leg, was cut free by fire-fighters and taken to City Hospital. None of the occupants of the bus was believed to be hurt.
Traffic diversions were put in place after the crash, when one lane coming from, and another going to, Five Ways Island were closed.
Motorists on the M6 were warned of the diversions and the subsequent queues which lasted for several hours. Earlier on in the day the northbound carriageway on the M6 was closed at Junction 3 at Bedworth after a lorry driver was killed.
Traffic was taken off the motorway and rejoined the M6 at Junction 4, Chelmsley Wood. The closure led to long tailbacks in the morning rush-hour.
The 52-year-old trucker, from Bedford, died when his HGV ploughed into a broken-down lorry at 4.15am. A spokeswoman for the Central Motorway Police Group said: "An HGV had broken down and was partially in the inside lane.
"A second HGV struck it and the driver of that vehicle sustained fatal injuries and was pronounced dead by a paramedic."
Junction 3 was closed for several hours while accident investigators examined the scene.
