David Lock

Driving back from Bristol to Sussex yesterday I got caught up in logjam on M4 around the Membury area. Turned out there was an accident on the otherside complete with 10 mile tailback. Cops were out in force with all the gizmos taking measurements/photos of single vehicle parked upside down in middle of motorway. Now this was a straight stretch of road so why does it take so long for police to record details, take photos and get the traffic moving again. Say 20 mins?? There was even a helicoper hovering around so I guess he could have run off some evidence shots to tie in with on the ground measurements.

I just get the feeling that all the time spent is way OTT and a bloody nuisance for the 10k or so motorists caught up in the incident.

Or am I being impatient? Must add that I hope no one badly hurt although it didn't look nice. dl

SiPie

It's beacuse it takes them so bloody long to respond to 999 calls they thought they'd best apply that ethos to the rest of their work

FlightMan

I'm guessing that it was a fatal accident and if the Police dont do everything by the book, in this day and age of litigation, someone would carry ther can.
Still a PITA though.

springbok

As above, If they had the helicopter up taking shots of the scene it's a good chance that it was a fatal accident.

SJ_Skyline

We did 230 miles this weekend, the lions share on the M1.

Average speed: 33mph

Abdabz

They probably just need to get all the evidence before moving the wreckage and re-opening the road.
I believe evidence is quite important in court cases and the likes...
If it was me or mine involved in a nasty crash, I would want to be sure the right people were prosecuted for their ineptitude, rather than the polices ineptitude leading to no presecutions...

SteveScooby

iTrader: (2)

Any fatal accident is treated the same as a potential crime scene, and investigated in a similar way to a murder, that's why it takes so long.

David Lock

Fair enough - but do they they have to take so bloody long doing it......... There didn't see to be any sense of urgency. A sort of jobsworth feel about the whole thing.

Ignore me I'm just an impatient old sod

Springbok - in fact chopper was a couple of miles down the road just hovering over tail back... ???

BexTait

It's not like it's somewhere that they can easliy go back and visit the scene of again at a later date/time to look for more evidence/whatever they do.

I have to agree tho that they do tend to take their time, but then again I suppose it has to be done thoroughly.

GC8

Its a crime scene David. If theyre taking their time, as you see it, then someones been badly hurt or killed.

dsmith

Someone probably died ffs.

get over it.

NotoriousREV

I assume this is the incident you're reffering to?

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/bristol/5398172.stm

MattW

Nope - Membury is Wilts/Berks border

Shark Man

All this evidence gathering the police do for RTAs is pointless. I find it daft that they treat fatal car crashes like a murder scene when the courts have the inability to treat a road death as such.

I.e A banned driver, driving without tax, MOT or insurance in an unroadworthy car, whilst drunk runs somebody over, killing them and then leaves the scene of the accident. What sentence does this man get? A further ban, a three year sentance and is out in 18month. Despite damming evidence that he was driving dangerously and drunk - seeing that the pedestrian was on the pavement on the opposite side of the road to which the driver "should" have been driving on!

(above case is a true story, as endured by my neighbours ).

mart360

We saw the same on the A34 a few weeks ago,

my colleague from germany was stunned, the fact that the police closed the road, 5 miles away from the incident, to divert traffic away. He told me that in Germany they would have kept the traffic flowing round the incident (1 or two lanes). non of this traffic jam stuff, which increases the risk of secondary accidents.

The other thing which he was getting narked over, was the so called kings of the road acting as mobile road blocks, so there were huge swathes of empty lane in front of them, He asked what gave them the right to do it?, and what did it achieve, the lanes would have run reasonably smoothly to the diversion point, all this did was increase the length of the tailback. he said if they had done that in germany, they would have been pulled over and given an 8 hour penalty from driving.

mart

PaulC72

Put it this way if it was one of your family or you wouldnt you want to know the full extent of what happened or how? It is one of those things, next time you are sitting in traffic count your blessings that its not you in the overturned car or mangled wreck.

GC8

Brilliant! Never to be seen here of course.....

PG

There is no such thing as an accident now where the police are concerned. It is a Road Traffic Collision. From the minute they arrive on scene they are looking to apportion blame hence all the evidence gathering.
I still consider it an RTA when we turn up but even when we are in the process of extricating casualties the police can be over our shoulder gathering info.
....Someone has to be sued somewhere done the line. Welcome to the world in which we now live!

David Lock

I think it may have been this which was on the same Bristol website

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/bristol/5399402.stm

Hope all going well for couple involved.

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