After a few posts criticising the HA, I would like to say a thank you for the assistance on Saturday, I was travelling on the M42 J1-2 and all of a sudden BANG!
Smoke and debris EVERYWHERE, pulled up on the hard shoulder and saw that I had an O/S blow out, the mudguard had gone and my lights stopped working on that side, not sure where the mudguard was and thinking it was still on the motorway I called the HA and within minutes they were there and collected all the bits of tyre on the carriageway, they said the mudguard was not on the motorway (ZB knows where that went) and gave me a number to call back when the tyre fitter got to me.
I called them back an hour later when the fitter got there and again they were minutes away, closed lane 1 and 1 tyre later I made it to J2 to have the rest of the damage tended to (Mudguard rubbing on the tyre etc.)
I frequently see them and think why are they sitting there doing nothing but they do have their uses and if it was the police managing the roads like before, it would have taken a lot more time for them to get to me and would also take an officer or two off the streets.
So I would like to say Thanks for the assistance to the HA last weekend.
Oh and I would like to apologise to anyone affected by the sudden death of the kestrel, condolences to all affected.
Scanner:
The underside looks to be covered in algae
Probably something to do with the age, its about 10 years old, its age is shown by the rubbish roof supports that need forklift assistance to release and put back in
I have heard that because of budget cuts they no longer ‘patrol’ as much as they did, but have to stay parked on those observation humps for most of their shifts and wait to be ‘tasked’ for incidents.
I also note that the Range Rover Vogues were replaced by Toyota Land Cruisers that have now been replaced by VW vans.
The Range Rovers were part of a special deal when the service first started nearly ten years ago. Toyotas are also nearly all off fleet, so the bulk of the fleet is now Land Rover Discovery and Mitsubishi Shogun. There is a Mercedes Vito van on trial and two Mitsubishi L200’s. Never had a VW on fleet. I wouldn’t be surprised to see a Transit Connect in the future
extrucker:
The Range Rovers were part of a special deal when the service first started nearly ten years ago. Toyotas are also nearly all off fleet, so the bulk of the fleet is now Land Rover Discovery and Mitsubishi Shogun. There is a Mercedes Vito van on trial and two Mitsubishi L200’s. Never had a VW on fleet. I wouldn’t be surprised to see a Transit Connect in the future
There are sprinters or crafters on Scottish motorways, but not marked as HATO but as “incident support units”. I guess they do the same job though (as recently when I had a puncture and was parked on the hard shoulder, they passed me twice and did not give a ■■■■ about me )
extrucker:
The Range Rovers were part of a special deal when the service first started nearly ten years ago. Toyotas are also nearly all off fleet, so the bulk of the fleet is now Land Rover Discovery and Mitsubishi Shogun. There is a Mercedes Vito van on trial and two Mitsubishi L200’s. Never had a VW on fleet. I wouldn’t be surprised to see a Transit Connect in the future
There are sprinters or crafters on Scottish motorways, but not marked as HATO but as “incident support units”. I guess they do the same job though (as recently when I had a puncture and was parked on the hard shoulder, they passed me twice and did not give a [zb] about me)
Yeah, they knew I can manage without nanny I just drove 70 m forward and entered the lay by for the vehicles servicing matrix sign and dealt with the problem there safely, without need of closing 5 lanes of the motorway for 11 hours with the two lorry loads of traffic cones
Worth having that number & the non emergency police number 101!
It’s worth having the HA lads, if its your mom, sister or wife who needs help & assistance. Fair enough about easing the patrolling though, bet them 4x4’s chew fuel.
mezzzz1211:
Yep .charged my pld firm 1000to close a lane and pick up a few bits of wire
Are you sure? Or was it just what some bod in the office told you?
I only ask because I’ve had one or two blowouts over the years which scattered debris which in turn needed clearing up, and I’ve never heard a word about any bills coming for that.
