Families slept in their cars overnight on a major Brisbane highway after a fatal crash closed all lanes for more than eight hours.
Police said the delays were triggered after a 33-year-old man from Logan crashed into a guardrail on the Logan Motorway near Heathwood about 9.30pm on Thursday.
The man then got out of his car and stood in the left lane when two other vehicles tried to avoid him but collided with each other. One of those vehicles struck the man.
The crash caused major delays, stretching tens of kilometres.
Will Johnston said he was stuck in his car with his pregnant wife Paige and two-year-old daughter for eight hours, from 10pm to just before 6am.
Mr Johnston said they didn't know what was happening for about an hour and only found out through the grapevine, when people started getting out of their cars and chatting.
He said hundreds of cars were banked up and one man had walked 800 metres and didn't see an end in sight.
The young family tried to turn around three times but there were no diversions in place, trapping them on the motorway.
The couple stayed awake all night but managed to get their two-year-old to sleep after a bit of a "mission".
"We couldn't get outside because it was freezing cold so we were kind of just stuck in the car," he said.
"So, my wife is having some pretty bad Braxton Hicks [contractions].
"It was pretty crazy. We were kind of just trapped.
"There was a lot of people in limbo just walking around the freeway, it was pretty, pretty weird."
The motorway opened Friday morning, around dawn.
By that time, Mr Johnston said there were a number of cars that had broken down.
"We had to push a few cars off the road," he said.
"When we were driving away, there was still people that were asleep in their cars and we had to try and wake them up so that they didn't get hit.
"There was no emergency services to kind of go through and and help with that as well.
"So there was just people asleep on the highway."
Di Burns was travelling home with her husband after visiting their granddaughter when they came to a standstill around 10pm.
"We didn't move until around 5.30am this morning," Ms Burns told ABC Radio Brisbane on Friday.
"But it's the people who were involved [in the crash] I feel sorry for."
John Lamb was also caught up in the chaos and told ABC Radio Brisbane he was stranded for hours without any water.
"We're not moving anywhere. Since 1am I've moved about a kilometre I think," he said.
"I've got to go to work – I'm a limousine operator and I've got my next pick-up at 6.45am. I'm hoping to get there in time."
The 33-year-old man who was hit on the highway was critically injured and died later in hospital.
Two other men involved in the crash were taken to the Princess Alexandra Hospital as a precaution are both in stable conditions.
The Forensic Crash Unit is investigating.
Any witnesses or anyone with dash cam footage from the area is urged to contact police.
