I am aware that this subject has been covered before BUT:-
The southbound M42 has been closed all day at J4, with the expected chaos affecting thousands of motorists. According to news reports the body of a man was found on the motorway and police believe he had fallen from the bridge above the motorway.
Now I accept that it there could be several scenarios on how he 'fell' and the police have to investigate all circumstances. However there have been a number of instances in the past couple of years when motorways has been closed for what seems an inordinate length of time for police investigations. Closure of motorways for lengthy periods, for any manner of incidents and accidents, does seem to be a new practice by the police.
Wouldn't it be helpful if a police spokesman explained why it was necessary.
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This was discussed extensively recently. In summary, the road becomes a potential manslaughter crime scene and has to be investigated properly. The road next to where Milly Dowler was found is still closed now.
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I had an similar episode on a train. Scenario was that soe poor
sap had jumped off a bridge and splattred himself over the main West Coast Line. My train was held up for four hours whilst his body was recovered. Virgin staff came round with Compo forms for the delays (happy days) - I wonder how many of the train's passengers claimed - personally it stuck in my craw and chucked it away.
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PB,
I really do understand the reasons for the closure - it was ever thus.
There is always a balance to be struck between the requirement for scene of crime officers to have sufficient time to investigate accidents/incidents and inconvenience to the motoring public.
I am questioning the reasoning behind what appears to be a new policy of closing roads for much greater periods than used to be the case. Even 'straightfoward' traffic accidents take longer to clear and for the road to be opened.
C
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The length of time our motorways are closed by plod is totally unjustified.
If the man on the motorway WAS the subject of a crime scene then the major crime scene was the bridge he was allegedly push off and NOT the stretch of motorway he fell onto.
In any event, this is an exception. Even 'ordinary' accidents are resulting in long closures of the road system. Are we really to believe plod has become far more thorough in their investigations in the last few years with the increased new technology available to them yet this corresponds to an invertly long time to investigate any accident?
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I find some of this debate a little callous. It is probably because the police care that they wish to ensure justice is done to both victim and their family by a thorough investigation. Sometimes proving a suspicious death is not murder can take almost as long as one that obviously is. However, it would be a lot easier just to sweep the body to the side of the road!
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PLS
"I find some of this debate a little callous."
I used today's closure as an example to make a more general point on roads being closed longer than previously - mainly after accidents rather than someone falling from a bridge. It was not, and is not, intended as an anti-police jibe.
If the reason is that the police are carrying out more thorough investigations into accidents then it would assist our understanding if we were told so. Or could it be that with the pressure on police resources they are devoting less effort in getting roads clear quickly?
C
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Didn't someone explain on here some time back that the emergency services now HAVE to be considerably more careful extracting people from wreckage due to the possibility of being sued if it is demonstrated that incorrect procedures resulted in further injury?
And I think you will also find that often much more road is closed than necessary for both emergencies and roadworks, due to the considerable danger to emergency/road workers lives posed by motorists who do not bother to heed warning signs and limits. So, from their point of view, better safe than sorry.
Having broken down once on the M4 I can attest that it is truly terrifying standing on the hard shoulder with cars and lotties shooting past at 70+.
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If the guy had fallen off a bridge onto a pedestrian precinct: how long would that have been closed to "traffic" for?
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>>sufficient time to investigate <<
The last discussion happened at the time of a big closure near the M42/M5, 'involving a motorcyclist' that closed the M5 for hours - I had to take a big detour. By chance I met the husband (also in the police) of the Scene of Crime Officer 2 days later. He said that they always open roads as fast as they can. In this case, first they had to collect as much evidence as possible (could be manslaughter) but the reason it was so long is 'it took a hell of a long time to find all of the motorcyclist'.
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A few years ago a police friend told me how a driver had been run down and killed while changing the off side tyre of his car. The road was closed by the body parts strewn over the road and then the subsequent investigation. He was told to explain to drivers in the queue building up behind the scene that the road was closed etc.
One driver told him he was late for an appointment and had to be allowed through. My friend patiently explained again what had happened and the road was closed for the time being and regretably nothing could be done. The driver responded with expletive deletives and his opinion that the death of the driver was no reason to hold him up. Despite being a seasoned police officer he was quite shocked by the callousness and selfishness.
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This has been well and truly covered before. 1)Plod doesn't keep resources tied up in one place longer than needed.2)Health and Safety issues now, quite rightly, are well to the fore and must be observed to minimise further needless carnage. 3) If your loved one's in bits over two/three carriageways, a thorough job, hopefully not rushed or fudged for expediency, is the least you can expect under the circumstances. Shame that people can't see further than their own inconvenience under such circumstances.
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