Discussion
Just wondered what the general opinion on this was.
In particular when a road incident particularly in the more rural locations requires the police to close a long road section to allow emergency access.
My beef is quite often road might be closed for a considerable distance probably to ensure larger trucks etc don't end up using all the country lane rat runs etc, but people who still need to access locations along the route of the closure are not always given the exact location of the incident either on the radio reports or on traffic websites. This can make it very difficult to work out whether by use of local knowledge one could still gain access to a particular house or village and still be no where near the incident.
I appreciate the police do not have manpower to man all road closure points but when giving info to the various media it would be helpful to give a grid ref or more exact location of the incident to avoid major frustration and hassle to locals trying to access specific locations.
The A429 was closed today all the way from Cirencester to Northleach approx 10mile stretch but no info available on the local radio bulletins as to accident location.
I spent at least another hour getting to where I wanted to get to via a hit and miss process navigating through the lanes.
Frustration
In particular when a road incident particularly in the more rural locations requires the police to close a long road section to allow emergency access.
My beef is quite often road might be closed for a considerable distance probably to ensure larger trucks etc don't end up using all the country lane rat runs etc, but people who still need to access locations along the route of the closure are not always given the exact location of the incident either on the radio reports or on traffic websites. This can make it very difficult to work out whether by use of local knowledge one could still gain access to a particular house or village and still be no where near the incident.
I appreciate the police do not have manpower to man all road closure points but when giving info to the various media it would be helpful to give a grid ref or more exact location of the incident to avoid major frustration and hassle to locals trying to access specific locations.
The A429 was closed today all the way from Cirencester to Northleach approx 10mile stretch but no info available on the local radio bulletins as to accident location.
I spent at least another hour getting to where I wanted to get to via a hit and miss process navigating through the lanes.
Frustration
kin wid ya just because he can. Actually, this being PH, it was definitely the latter. Or aliens. Locals are likely to know how to navigate around the problem using the minor roads, so hardly a big deal.
Through traffic will have to use the (very) long detour via the Air Balloon (A417/A436).
It's still closed 4 hours after the OP's post so the accident is very likely to be a fatal one or hazardous substances involved.
Through traffic will have to use the (very) long detour via the Air Balloon (A417/A436).
It's still closed 4 hours after the OP's post so the accident is very likely to be a fatal one or hazardous substances involved.
Gone are the days when BIB turned up made a quick sketch and reopened a road. If an accident has resulted in a death/possible death or life changing injuries then it is treated as a serious crime scene. The BIB's have, like all public sector workers limited resources. So they may have to wait to get the correct resources to a scene. Whilst it may be nice to know exactly where an accident is I actually like to listen to music whilst i'm driving. I don't want the radio constantly saying exactly where every accident is. Just a rough idea is enough.
Half the time now I don't know where an accident is. "The A587 at Brecon Bridge is closed" is fine if you now where Brecon Bridge is. If I am not local and just travelling down the A587 where do I need to turn off? Case in point where is the Air Balloon r/bout?
Half the time now I don't know where an accident is. "The A587 at Brecon Bridge is closed" is fine if you now where Brecon Bridge is. If I am not local and just travelling down the A587 where do I need to turn off? Case in point where is the Air Balloon r/bout?
Wow - an extra hour on the road. Happened 3 times recently in Scotland where 60 - 180 (yes 180) miles detour was required. Ended up in one case that network Rail put a temporary surface on the railway so that cars and trucks could use the railway as a road. And I believe a few years ago in Cumbria after some floods destroyed a bridge, people had something like a 30 to 40 mile detour to get to the other side of the bridge.
Main road near us was shut for hours during the week causing complete mayhem all around when 3 vehicles crashed at a merge point where stupid people often try to block cars out and it ended up with 2 cars crashing head-on and another over-turning.
Loads of police, fire brigade, paramedics, ambulances, 2 air ambulances. No-one seriously hurt thankfully.
Loads of police, fire brigade, paramedics, ambulances, 2 air ambulances. No-one seriously hurt thankfully.
Willy Nilly said:
As cheap as drones are, why don't plod buy a couple, take the snaps they need to in about 10 minutes, drag the wreckage out of the way and open the road?
I'm certain there would be no objections:http://www.rt.com/uk/244281-drones-police-privacy-...
They are a sensible option when searching or covering a large area. We had a call to a young child screaming in a massive field one night. Obviously a vixen but if it wasn't then my force were frightened of the criticism they'd receive on PH from certain posters. We could not have searched the field without about 20 officers, and in the meantime we'd have to send in a couple of units - half the strength - to listen in. As it was the helio was returning from a job and detoured over the field. Only hot spot was about baby sized or fox sized, depending on your point of view. However, if it had been the former then it was the fastest ever baby as the helio went low to spook it.
A drone would be great for searches. There was one force trialling there use a couple of years ago but I haven't heard of the result. There were objections from locals when it was suggested.
Derek Smith said:
Willy Nilly said:
As cheap as drones are, why don't plod buy a couple, take the snaps they need to in about 10 minutes, drag the wreckage out of the way and open the road?
I'm certain there would be no objections:http://www.rt.com/uk/244281-drones-police-privacy-...
They are a sensible option when searching or covering a large area. We had a call to a young child screaming in a massive field one night. Obviously a vixen but if it wasn't then my force were frightened of the criticism they'd receive on PH from certain posters. We could not have searched the field without about 20 officers, and in the meantime we'd have to send in a couple of units - half the strength - to listen in. As it was the helio was returning from a job and detoured over the field. Only hot spot was about baby sized or fox sized, depending on your point of view. However, if it had been the former then it was the fastest ever baby as the helio went low to spook it.
A drone would be great for searches. There was one force trialling there use a couple of years ago but I haven't heard of the result. There were objections from locals when it was suggested.
http://www.sussex.police.uk/whats-happening/latest...
Landshark said:
Sussex (&Surrey jointly) are trialling them, and the home office has given them more money to expand the trial.
http://www.sussex.police.uk/whats-happening/latest...
Merseyside lost their's when it fell into the Mersey! And they'd been in trouble before that for using it without a licence.http://www.sussex.police.uk/whats-happening/latest...
LoonR1 said:
Willy Nilly said:
As cheap as drones are, why don't plod buy a couple, take the snaps they need to in about 10 minutes, drag the wreckage out of the way and open the road?
They could just bury the dead at the roadside and throw some bandages and Elastoplast at the injured too. Elroy Blue said:
Willy Nilly said:
As cheap as drones are, why don't plod buy a couple, take the snaps they need to in about 10 minutes, drag the wreckage out of the way and open the road?
If only it was that simple. Willy Nilly said:
Why wouldn't it be that simple? They can take excellent picture which would be good enough for measuring and take loads of them in a few minutes. There are normally technical fixes to problems and the technology exists and is cheap, so get on it.
A fatal scene involves far more than photos. With two decades experience as a Road Dearg Senior Investigating Officer, you'll just have to take my word for it. Elroy Blue said:
Willy Nilly said:
Why wouldn't it be that simple? They can take excellent picture which would be good enough for measuring and take loads of them in a few minutes. There are normally technical fixes to problems and the technology exists and is cheap, so get on it.
A fatal scene involves far more than photos. With two decades experience as a Road Dearg Senior Investigating Officer, you'll just have to take my word for it. Forums | Speed, Plod & the Law | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff