Incident Support Vehicles

[skippa]

Incident Support Vehicles....
What are they for, why do they exist?
The reason i ask is, i've seen them parked up in numurous
laybys on A19 from Sunderland to Middlesbrough, but nowhere else, doing nothing for hours, i've been told they help plod when theres an accident etc., but this morning there was total panic amongst drivers near Norton when a vehicle had shed a load of timber over A19 with drivers swerving all over trying to miss debris.
Guess what was parked up at the next layby doing nothing....

[Dorje]

Aye, I've actually noticed loads of these recently. One seemingly always on the Parkway roundabout, some in A19 layby's and flyovers. And a couple on the A174 in the last week, haven't seen them do anything either really.

[baptist]

Yeah, ive noticed this too. Ive also seen a van with them, with darkened windows. Take care I say.

[dunning]

i've never actually seen them doing anything either.
sure there was something in the gazzette afew weeks back saying they're new vans and told you all about them, but as far as i can remember, they're only like 56-57 plate vans anyway

[gsrgeoff]

They're supposed to be helping to keep the traffic flowing freely all the way along the A19 in conjunction with the new Tyne Tunnel build.

Never saw them doing anything for the first few months in their transits, but now they've got the big VW's they seem to be clearing up rubbish / cutting the grass verges etc, and are obviously there to assist in any traffic incidents.

Edited by gsrgeoff on Tuesday 30th June 22:49

[Wedg1e]

The Balfour Beatty vans have now replaced by Highways Agency Incident Support vans that have big illuminated signs they can flip down to make you change lanes.
They still park on bridges to frighten people into slowing down

[The Highway Man]

The incident support vehicles are provided by the managing agent contractor (MAC) The motorway and trunk road network are split into a number of areas, each maintained by a MAC. They are responsible for maintaining the infastructure, routine maintenance, grass cutting, litter collecting, emergency repairs-potholes, barrier repairs etc. Assisting on closures, our emergency traffic management is only supposed to be used for 20 minutes, the ISU will turn up and overlay our small cones with their large ones and bigger lane divert arrows. Later on this year all ISU crews will be moving onto the HATO radio network to enable them to respond faster to emergency incidents.

[peteA]

The Highway Man said:

The incident support vehicles are provided by the managing agent contractor (MAC) The motorway and trunk road network are split into a number of areas, each maintained by a MAC. They are responsible for maintaining the infastructure, routine maintenance, grass cutting, litter collecting, emergency repairs-potholes, barrier repairs etc. Assisting on closures, our emergency traffic management is only supposed to be used for 20 minutes, the ISU will turn up and overlay our small cones with their large ones and bigger lane divert arrows. Later on this year all ISU crews will be moving onto the HATO radio network to enable them to respond faster to emergency incidents.

Dont some of them have traffic officer on the back though...?

I've driven along side such a vehicle (4X4) and the driver did not appear to a police man...is 'traffic officer' a deliberate play on words...?

[The Highway Man]

The ISU does not have traffic officer anywhere on the vehicle. It says highways agency incident support unit. On the back it reads motorway maintenance.

[PeteG]

peteA said:

The Highway Man said:

The incident support vehicles are provided by the managing agent contractor (MAC) The motorway and trunk road network are split into a number of areas, each maintained by a MAC. They are responsible for maintaining the infastructure, routine maintenance, grass cutting, litter collecting, emergency repairs-potholes, barrier repairs etc. Assisting on closures, our emergency traffic management is only supposed to be used for 20 minutes, the ISU will turn up and overlay our small cones with their large ones and bigger lane divert arrows. Later on this year all ISU crews will be moving onto the HATO radio network to enable them to respond faster to emergency incidents.

Dont some of them have traffic officer on the back though...?

I've driven along side such a vehicle (4X4) and the driver did not appear to a police man...is 'traffic officer' a deliberate play on words...?

You're thinking of HATOs - Highways Agency Traffic Officers. Introduced to do traffic management, clearing up, scene protection, and the like, to free traffic police up for their other duties.