Last night at 20.25 on the M5 where the M42 joins. these numpties decided to stop the motorway for 20mins whilst the tyre fitters changed a tyre on the off-side of the trailer. Im all for the safety of the tyre fitters and by all means block the nearside lane. but was there really any need to stop the whole motorway for 20mins??
people ended up wondering around trying to find out what was going on and thats got to be far more dangerous than blocking off one lane. there was plenty of people venting their anger at them by horn blowing.
perhaps someone can shed some light onto why they shut the whole motorway off. I think Ive seen that there is a couple of wombles on here who perhaps can explain better.
but this surely cant be right! can it? there must be a human rights law broken here!
Whilst I see your point, and agree with you, I suspect the position of the lorry at the end of the slip road was probably a factor. Closing off the nearside slip lane and lane 1 may have been beyond their capabilities (and I mean that in a sincere manner, not having a dig at them).
Not sure here - but that looks as if the incident is just where the lanes merge. In order to close 1 lane, they would have to close it from way back before the merger - and keep it closed for a kilometre or more in order to ensure none of the numpties nipped back into the “closed” lane. That would have needed a lot more cones etc than are carried in a Womble vehicle and would need one of their cone-carrying truck crews to do the biz. The whole exercise would have been quite complex, and in order to do it safely would probably have needed a full closure anyway while the cones etc were set out (or at the very least another protection vehicle with the big flashy signs on it).
i can remember being stuck on the a114 for ages a smallish shunt had occurred and they blocked the road, once the traffic cop arrived she moved cars into laybye (none were really bad) and traffic moved back along on its merry way.
for the above I think it is just typical of todays overkill society regarding no one being allowed to use some common sense. having said that they are also possibly caught between a rock and a hard place regarding both capabilities and what they legally are allowed to do.
if its the case were by the lanes merge, why not just move the truck forward ■■?
mutlley:
if its the case were by the lanes merge, why not just move the truck forward ■■?
^^^^^. The tyre is bolloxed anyway, a slow crawl with wombles behind to a more appropriate place would have caused no damage. Of course the wombles weren’t on their way home, visiting sick relatives or chasing tight deadlines were they?
Usual Womble Muppetry - they sure like to overcook it, see it every week now,
Copule od years back, on the M6, the bit between J1 & J2 northbound where there is a wide bit of shoulder, like 30 feet wide,
Chap there - way off the road changing his car tyre - wombles coned off both the shoulder, lanes 1 & 2 and had everything passing in lane 3
Christ- it must have taken far longer to put out the 300 or so cones out than it took to change the wheel, and a lot more dangerous,
as the Battenberg was sitting on the h/s
There was a spillage off a truck last week and credit where credit’s due, the HA did the sensible thing, closed the M1 for about 10 minutes with a rolling road block and dragged it to the side, moved the truck up the slip road to sort out his load and do the paperwork. Stop start for about 10 minutes and then stop for 10 more.
Job done and we were all off on our way.
mick.mh2racing:
There was a spillage off a truck last week and credit where credit’s due, the HA did the sensible thing, closed the M1 for about 10 minutes with a rolling road block and dragged it to the side, moved the truck up the slip road to sort out his load and do the paperwork. Stop start for about 10 minutes and then stop for 10 more.
Job done and we were all off on our way.
Luck of the draw who takes charge, sometimes they handle it well - sometimes not to good
Same as plod - some coppers have a bit of common sense - some (too many) thick as S…
I’d have had the driver limp to a better location and put on a lane 1 closure. Then again, I don’t know the full circumstances, so I wouldn’t like to second guess what has gone on from a simple photo. 
BossHogg:
I’d have had the driver limp to a better location and put on a lane 1 closure.
How do you know he was an agency driver?
From the photo to me it looks like the filter lane has a solid white line, you all know what that means don’t you? I’d agree with BossHogg here,
BossHogg:
I’d have had the driver limp to a better location and put on a lane 1 closure.
As the flat tyre was on the trailer maybe the driver was at fault for stopping straight away 
WHAT!!! blame the lorry driver They have effectively stopped in a live lane which is dangerous. I personally would have limped to a safer spot regardless of the damage. A live & dangerous lane could cost a life/lives, trailer parts can be replaced!
Contraflow:
BossHogg:
I’d have had the driver limp to a better location and put on a lane 1 closure.
How do you know he was an agency driver?
You’re one sharp mummy pumping monkey!