H9ghways Agency employees
Discussion
I think they are a marmite firm. The ones that really need an IQ test are the sign operators
Several times i have drop my speed to their orders 'Obstruction in road'
'Breakdown in ( whatever) lane
And a year or so ago on the M25 anti clockwise ;Oncoming vehicle in road'
In 80% of these signs there are two things that are consistent Most drivers ignore them and there is an eternity in getting the signs back to normal. I travelled may miles without seeing an oncoming vehicle/ breakdown or obstruction. No doubt the likes of Boss Hogg will say, by the time you passed whatever it was all clear,,So why don't the on site guys let them know, and if they do, why does it take so long.
The guys in the cars.Full of admiration for a job i would not even consider,but there are the odd one or two who ,i think joined, to give them a feeling of pomposity, and love to give orders!. esp the on on the TV prog who was full of what ifs,and what abouts ,making a crisis out of nothing at all. but they are the in the minority
But last night on the A20 Staines Bypass heading out of London. these finally hit the jackpot of H=S and think about the kittens! and must have created a tailback from The A30/M25 roundabout to Hatton Cross, 20mins dead stand could well be an understimate they created mayhem!!
The reason
As i was approaching the junction for the 'bypass the roundabout slip' onto the M25 there was a yellow lights and guys puttin down and them moving cones, the lights then disappeared and reappread with more cone shuffling....Finally we started to move and the reason became clear.on the slip and just out of sight a van had a problem with the nearside rear wheel. the fist HA vehicle was at the entrance which was coned off,and the second in ront of the stranded van had more cones around it.
In my opinion just the coning off of the slip was all that was needed and could have been done in 5mins as the A30 traffic could still gain access to the M25 by going onto the roundabout and taking the first exit. But these guys took H+S to the Nth
Having had plenty of experoence watching the TV!
Assumption. First HA on scene must have come down the A30, so halt traffic prior to slip forming sterile area then cone off slip directing traffic onto roundabout to M25 entrance
Driven to beginnnig of slip and ( guessing) put on the keep right arrows and while the traffic was held coned off the slip Second HA car possibly came of the M25 onto roundabout,If so halt A30 traffic while he reverses up to slip, and he starts to set up sterile area around breakdown.f Once done, Traffic is flagged onto roundabout to gain access to M25..Surely that would have taken a fraction of the time that they took..
Any thoughts?
degree and
Several times i have drop my speed to their orders 'Obstruction in road'
'Breakdown in ( whatever) lane
And a year or so ago on the M25 anti clockwise ;Oncoming vehicle in road'
In 80% of these signs there are two things that are consistent Most drivers ignore them and there is an eternity in getting the signs back to normal. I travelled may miles without seeing an oncoming vehicle/ breakdown or obstruction. No doubt the likes of Boss Hogg will say, by the time you passed whatever it was all clear,,So why don't the on site guys let them know, and if they do, why does it take so long.
The guys in the cars.Full of admiration for a job i would not even consider,but there are the odd one or two who ,i think joined, to give them a feeling of pomposity, and love to give orders!. esp the on on the TV prog who was full of what ifs,and what abouts ,making a crisis out of nothing at all. but they are the in the minority
But last night on the A20 Staines Bypass heading out of London. these finally hit the jackpot of H=S and think about the kittens! and must have created a tailback from The A30/M25 roundabout to Hatton Cross, 20mins dead stand could well be an understimate they created mayhem!!
The reason
As i was approaching the junction for the 'bypass the roundabout slip' onto the M25 there was a yellow lights and guys puttin down and them moving cones, the lights then disappeared and reappread with more cone shuffling....Finally we started to move and the reason became clear.on the slip and just out of sight a van had a problem with the nearside rear wheel. the fist HA vehicle was at the entrance which was coned off,and the second in ront of the stranded van had more cones around it.
In my opinion just the coning off of the slip was all that was needed and could have been done in 5mins as the A30 traffic could still gain access to the M25 by going onto the roundabout and taking the first exit. But these guys took H+S to the Nth
Having had plenty of experoence watching the TV!
Assumption. First HA on scene must have come down the A30, so halt traffic prior to slip forming sterile area then cone off slip directing traffic onto roundabout to M25 entrance
Driven to beginnnig of slip and ( guessing) put on the keep right arrows and while the traffic was held coned off the slip Second HA car possibly came of the M25 onto roundabout,If so halt A30 traffic while he reverses up to slip, and he starts to set up sterile area around breakdown.f Once done, Traffic is flagged onto roundabout to gain access to M25..Surely that would have taken a fraction of the time that they took..
Any thoughts?
degree and
silverfoxcc said:
I think they are a marmite firm. The ones that really need an IQ test are the sign operators
Several times i have drop my speed to their orders 'Obstruction in road'
'Breakdown in ( whatever) lane
And a year or so ago on the M25 anti clockwise ;Oncoming vehicle in road'
In 80% of these signs there are two things that are consistent Most drivers ignore them and there is an eternity in getting the signs back to normal. I travelled may miles without seeing an oncoming vehicle/ breakdown or obstruction. No doubt the likes of Boss Hogg will say, by the time you passed whatever it was all clear,,So why don't the on site guys let them know, and if they do, why does it take so long.
The guys in the cars.Full of admiration for a job i would not even consider,but there are the odd one or two who ,i think joined, to give them a feeling of pomposity, and love to give orders!. esp the on on the TV prog who was full of what ifs,and what abouts ,making a crisis out of nothing at all. but they are the in the minority
But last night on the A20 Staines Bypass heading out of London. these finally hit the jackpot of H=S and think about the kittens! and must have created a tailback from The A30/M25 roundabout to Hatton Cross, 20mins dead stand could well be an understimate they created mayhem!!
The reason
As i was approaching the junction for the 'bypass the roundabout slip' onto the M25 there was a yellow lights and guys puttin down and them moving cones, the lights then disappeared and reappread with more cone shuffling....Finally we started to move and the reason became clear.on the slip and just out of sight a van had a problem with the nearside rear wheel. the fist HA vehicle was at the entrance which was coned off,and the second in ront of the stranded van had more cones around it.
In my opinion just the coning off of the slip was all that was needed and could have been done in 5mins as the A30 traffic could still gain access to the M25 by going onto the roundabout and taking the first exit. But these guys took H+S to the Nth
Having had plenty of experoence watching the TV!
Assumption. First HA on scene must have come down the A30, so halt traffic prior to slip forming sterile area then cone off slip directing traffic onto roundabout to M25 entrance
Driven to beginnnig of slip and ( guessing) put on the keep right arrows and while the traffic was held coned off the slip Second HA car possibly came of the M25 onto roundabout,If so halt A30 traffic while he reverses up to slip, and he starts to set up sterile area around breakdown.f Once done, Traffic is flagged onto roundabout to gain access to M25..Surely that would have taken a fraction of the time that they took..
Any thoughts?
degree and
IndeedSeveral times i have drop my speed to their orders 'Obstruction in road'
'Breakdown in ( whatever) lane
And a year or so ago on the M25 anti clockwise ;Oncoming vehicle in road'
In 80% of these signs there are two things that are consistent Most drivers ignore them and there is an eternity in getting the signs back to normal. I travelled may miles without seeing an oncoming vehicle/ breakdown or obstruction. No doubt the likes of Boss Hogg will say, by the time you passed whatever it was all clear,,So why don't the on site guys let them know, and if they do, why does it take so long.
The guys in the cars.Full of admiration for a job i would not even consider,but there are the odd one or two who ,i think joined, to give them a feeling of pomposity, and love to give orders!. esp the on on the TV prog who was full of what ifs,and what abouts ,making a crisis out of nothing at all. but they are the in the minority
But last night on the A20 Staines Bypass heading out of London. these finally hit the jackpot of H=S and think about the kittens! and must have created a tailback from The A30/M25 roundabout to Hatton Cross, 20mins dead stand could well be an understimate they created mayhem!!
The reason
As i was approaching the junction for the 'bypass the roundabout slip' onto the M25 there was a yellow lights and guys puttin down and them moving cones, the lights then disappeared and reappread with more cone shuffling....Finally we started to move and the reason became clear.on the slip and just out of sight a van had a problem with the nearside rear wheel. the fist HA vehicle was at the entrance which was coned off,and the second in ront of the stranded van had more cones around it.
In my opinion just the coning off of the slip was all that was needed and could have been done in 5mins as the A30 traffic could still gain access to the M25 by going onto the roundabout and taking the first exit. But these guys took H+S to the Nth
Having had plenty of experoence watching the TV!
Assumption. First HA on scene must have come down the A30, so halt traffic prior to slip forming sterile area then cone off slip directing traffic onto roundabout to M25 entrance
Driven to beginnnig of slip and ( guessing) put on the keep right arrows and while the traffic was held coned off the slip Second HA car possibly came of the M25 onto roundabout,If so halt A30 traffic while he reverses up to slip, and he starts to set up sterile area around breakdown.f Once done, Traffic is flagged onto roundabout to gain access to M25..Surely that would have taken a fraction of the time that they took..
Any thoughts?
degree and
OTOH, came across debris/lots of mud in lane 3 of the M1 this morning after a car had gone onto the verge, back into the lane then back onto the verge and to rest.
Sign above just before stating 60, report of incident/debris.
Rang in to HA to let them know exactly where it happened and that lane 3 was dangerous and cars were slamming on upon coming across the incident.
Carried on going and for miles the same sign was in place, so whether they believed me or not, I managed to narrow down the area for them.
So sometimes the signs ARE valid.
Sign above just before stating 60, report of incident/debris.
Rang in to HA to let them know exactly where it happened and that lane 3 was dangerous and cars were slamming on upon coming across the incident.
Carried on going and for miles the same sign was in place, so whether they believed me or not, I managed to narrow down the area for them.
So sometimes the signs ARE valid.
Problem with the signs is that reports of "debris" or "stranded vehicle" come in from people who have no idea of where they are hence the signs being activated miles before any incident. A lot of the time the incident has rectified itself before you get there. On "Smart motorways" they have detection equipment for stranded vehicles, trouble is these detect stationary traffic such as that queuing at a slip road, does this frequently on the M4 at Reading so the signs flash up Obstruction for a couple of miles before
silverfoxcc said:
I think they are a marmite firm. The ones that really need an IQ test are the sign operators
Several times i have drop my speed to their orders 'Obstruction in road'
'Breakdown in ( whatever) lane
And a year or so ago on the M25 anti clockwise ;Oncoming vehicle in road'
In 80% of these signs there are two things that are consistent Most drivers ignore them and there is an eternity in getting the signs back to normal. I travelled may miles without seeing an oncoming vehicle/ breakdown or obstruction. No doubt the likes of Boss Hogg will say, by the time you passed whatever it was all clear,,So why don't the on site guys let them know, and if they do, why does it take so long.
The guys in the cars.Full of admiration for a job i would not even consider,but there are the odd one or two who ,i think joined, to give them a feeling of pomposity, and love to give orders!. esp the on on the TV prog who was full of what ifs,and what abouts ,making a crisis out of nothing at all. but they are the in the minority
But last night on the A20 Staines Bypass heading out of London. these finally hit the jackpot of H=S and think about the kittens! and must have created a tailback from The A30/M25 roundabout to Hatton Cross, 20mins dead stand could well be an understimate they created mayhem!!
The reason
As i was approaching the junction for the 'bypass the roundabout slip' onto the M25 there was a yellow lights and guys puttin down and them moving cones, the lights then disappeared and reappread with more cone shuffling....Finally we started to move and the reason became clear.on the slip and just out of sight a van had a problem with the nearside rear wheel. the fist HA vehicle was at the entrance which was coned off,and the second in ront of the stranded van had more cones around it.
In my opinion just the coning off of the slip was all that was needed and could have been done in 5mins as the A30 traffic could still gain access to the M25 by going onto the roundabout and taking the first exit. But these guys took H+S to the Nth
Having had plenty of experoence watching the TV!
Assumption. First HA on scene must have come down the A30, so halt traffic prior to slip forming sterile area then cone off slip directing traffic onto roundabout to M25 entrance
Driven to beginnnig of slip and ( guessing) put on the keep right arrows and while the traffic was held coned off the slip Second HA car possibly came of the M25 onto roundabout,If so halt A30 traffic while he reverses up to slip, and he starts to set up sterile area around breakdown.f Once done, Traffic is flagged onto roundabout to gain access to M25..Surely that would have taken a fraction of the time that they took..
Any thoughts?
degree and
How d’you mean? Several times i have drop my speed to their orders 'Obstruction in road'
'Breakdown in ( whatever) lane
And a year or so ago on the M25 anti clockwise ;Oncoming vehicle in road'
In 80% of these signs there are two things that are consistent Most drivers ignore them and there is an eternity in getting the signs back to normal. I travelled may miles without seeing an oncoming vehicle/ breakdown or obstruction. No doubt the likes of Boss Hogg will say, by the time you passed whatever it was all clear,,So why don't the on site guys let them know, and if they do, why does it take so long.
The guys in the cars.Full of admiration for a job i would not even consider,but there are the odd one or two who ,i think joined, to give them a feeling of pomposity, and love to give orders!. esp the on on the TV prog who was full of what ifs,and what abouts ,making a crisis out of nothing at all. but they are the in the minority
But last night on the A20 Staines Bypass heading out of London. these finally hit the jackpot of H=S and think about the kittens! and must have created a tailback from The A30/M25 roundabout to Hatton Cross, 20mins dead stand could well be an understimate they created mayhem!!
The reason
As i was approaching the junction for the 'bypass the roundabout slip' onto the M25 there was a yellow lights and guys puttin down and them moving cones, the lights then disappeared and reappread with more cone shuffling....Finally we started to move and the reason became clear.on the slip and just out of sight a van had a problem with the nearside rear wheel. the fist HA vehicle was at the entrance which was coned off,and the second in ront of the stranded van had more cones around it.
In my opinion just the coning off of the slip was all that was needed and could have been done in 5mins as the A30 traffic could still gain access to the M25 by going onto the roundabout and taking the first exit. But these guys took H+S to the Nth
Having had plenty of experoence watching the TV!
Assumption. First HA on scene must have come down the A30, so halt traffic prior to slip forming sterile area then cone off slip directing traffic onto roundabout to M25 entrance
Driven to beginnnig of slip and ( guessing) put on the keep right arrows and while the traffic was held coned off the slip Second HA car possibly came of the M25 onto roundabout,If so halt A30 traffic while he reverses up to slip, and he starts to set up sterile area around breakdown.f Once done, Traffic is flagged onto roundabout to gain access to M25..Surely that would have taken a fraction of the time that they took..
Any thoughts?
degree and
Only had two dealings with the HA lads, both times for tyre issues on my truck, both times fortunately ns tyres.
First time there was nothing they could do, M6 hard shoulder just before jct 6 s/b, they pulled up checked i was ok and had someone on the way, wished one another a good day and off they went.
Nsf wheel flat but the tyre van has to park behind you ...which i reckon is wrong because tyre van weighs 2 tons whilst empty car transporter weighs 22 tons i know what i'd rather be protected by but rules is rules...tyre blokes air line wouldn't reach the front wheel so we had to drive the tyre van up onto the back of the transporter so he could reach the job, to the amusement of the DVSA lads sitting on the raised section on the nb carriageway.
Second time a few months ago M6 nb between 6 and 7, hard shoulder as running lane, blow out just past the HA site by the time i'd called the tyre service they'd closed the lane and a HA 4x4 was parked up behind me, chap stayed until the tyre chap had done his work.
Those two instances the HA lads could not have been more down to earth common sense types, i won't knock 'em.
As for signage, after a called in event you can't expect the signs to be updated as all clear until one of their crew has driven the entire affected section and confirmed all clear.
Things could be improved but doubtful it will happen, professional drivers could be recruited as trusted sources with direct access to emergency control room phone numbers, this would help massively on sections where traffic builds up rapidly blocking miles of road making emergency vehicle access almost impossible, many's the time an accident has blocked a road within spitting distance of a junction, a phone call from someone registered and cleared as a trusted source would allow all first responders in from the business end valuable minutes earlier.
First time there was nothing they could do, M6 hard shoulder just before jct 6 s/b, they pulled up checked i was ok and had someone on the way, wished one another a good day and off they went.
Nsf wheel flat but the tyre van has to park behind you ...which i reckon is wrong because tyre van weighs 2 tons whilst empty car transporter weighs 22 tons i know what i'd rather be protected by but rules is rules...tyre blokes air line wouldn't reach the front wheel so we had to drive the tyre van up onto the back of the transporter so he could reach the job, to the amusement of the DVSA lads sitting on the raised section on the nb carriageway.
Second time a few months ago M6 nb between 6 and 7, hard shoulder as running lane, blow out just past the HA site by the time i'd called the tyre service they'd closed the lane and a HA 4x4 was parked up behind me, chap stayed until the tyre chap had done his work.
Those two instances the HA lads could not have been more down to earth common sense types, i won't knock 'em.
As for signage, after a called in event you can't expect the signs to be updated as all clear until one of their crew has driven the entire affected section and confirmed all clear.
Things could be improved but doubtful it will happen, professional drivers could be recruited as trusted sources with direct access to emergency control room phone numbers, this would help massively on sections where traffic builds up rapidly blocking miles of road making emergency vehicle access almost impossible, many's the time an accident has blocked a road within spitting distance of a junction, a phone call from someone registered and cleared as a trusted source would allow all first responders in from the business end valuable minutes earlier.
The only thing that annoys me on the motorways at the moment, is the seemingly constant need to set smart motorway speed limits to a given speed and there is nothing at the end of it.
I'm looking at you M6
Everytime i travel the length of the M6 from M1 to Preston, northbound is almost always clear bar the HS2 roadworks section but for some reason, Southbound always seems to have speed restrictions with nothing at the end of it and i'm sure that the speed limits cause more tailbacks than they do solve issues.
Otherwise i think in general the Highways Agency do a decent job of keeping things running relatively smoothly considering the sheer amount of bad driving to be found on the UK roads right now
I'm looking at you M6
Everytime i travel the length of the M6 from M1 to Preston, northbound is almost always clear bar the HS2 roadworks section but for some reason, Southbound always seems to have speed restrictions with nothing at the end of it and i'm sure that the speed limits cause more tailbacks than they do solve issues.
Otherwise i think in general the Highways Agency do a decent job of keeping things running relatively smoothly considering the sheer amount of bad driving to be found on the UK roads right now
Smint said:
Nsf wheel flat but the tyre van has to park behind you ...which i reckon is wrong because tyre van weighs 2 tons whilst empty car transporter weighs 22 tons i know what i'd rather be protected by but rules is rules...tyre blokes air line wouldn't reach the front wheel so we had to drive the tyre van up onto the back of the transporter so he could reach the job, to the amusement of the DVSA lads sitting on the raised section on the nb carriageway.
Seems counterintuitive; what is the reason?Gassing Station | General Gassing | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff