These Traffic Officers from the Highways Agencies are a bit worrying in my opinion.
The principle behind what they are meant to be is great, anything that frees up police time and helps motorists is brilliant, along with providing safety on the motorways.
However, Ive just seen two complete idiots cone off a good 100m of hard shoulder, with 2 big keep right boards half way along. I followed this to a nice posh 4x4 with pretty lights, then tucked right up well off the hard shoulder there was a broken down car and all the boot contents all over the verge.
Yet 1 mile down the motorway there is exactly the same kind of thing, yet just the vehicle and not a cone insight. Also saw a police officer a while later, who had positioned his vehicle behind an abandoned car in the outside lane of a dual carridgeway. He didnt see it necessary to cone off 100m.
Ive read other nightmares, about traffic officers who have coned off 2 perfectly good lanes, to protect those on the hard-shoulder, and similar. Huge overkill and actually leads to more rubber necking, I certainly looked at what on earth was going on with 100m of cones leading down the hard shoulder.
Its not just mini contraflows and coned off lanes either, I over took one of there "patrols" on the motorway once and the guy driving stared at me and shook his head as I drove past because I presume I was doing 75 (He was doing 70, and thust bringing the motorway to a standstill.) (Note. Thats why most police cars sit at 60 on the motorway).
To cap it off, I was on the M18/M180 roundabout and a guy had broken down on some hatchings. He was quite safe, however as I was driving past a Highways Agency 4x4 turned up and started laying into the poor driver. Shouting and wagging his finger as he walked towards the car.
This is only a handful of things I have seen these annoying characters get up to, and its the same all over the country where they are. It worries me that they are all wannabe Police Officers, and that sooner or later they are going to cause some nasty accidents by there actions. I do hope however im wrong.
The principle behind what they are meant to be is great, anything that frees up police time and helps motorists is brilliant, along with providing safety on the motorways.
However, Ive just seen two complete idiots cone off a good 100m of hard shoulder, with 2 big keep right boards half way along. I followed this to a nice posh 4x4 with pretty lights, then tucked right up well off the hard shoulder there was a broken down car and all the boot contents all over the verge.
Yet 1 mile down the motorway there is exactly the same kind of thing, yet just the vehicle and not a cone insight. Also saw a police officer a while later, who had positioned his vehicle behind an abandoned car in the outside lane of a dual carridgeway. He didnt see it necessary to cone off 100m.
Ive read other nightmares, about traffic officers who have coned off 2 perfectly good lanes, to protect those on the hard-shoulder, and similar. Huge overkill and actually leads to more rubber necking, I certainly looked at what on earth was going on with 100m of cones leading down the hard shoulder.
Its not just mini contraflows and coned off lanes either, I over took one of there "patrols" on the motorway once and the guy driving stared at me and shook his head as I drove past because I presume I was doing 75 (He was doing 70, and thust bringing the motorway to a standstill.) (Note. Thats why most police cars sit at 60 on the motorway).
To cap it off, I was on the M18/M180 roundabout and a guy had broken down on some hatchings. He was quite safe, however as I was driving past a Highways Agency 4x4 turned up and started laying into the poor driver. Shouting and wagging his finger as he walked towards the car.
This is only a handful of things I have seen these annoying characters get up to, and its the same all over the country where they are. It worries me that they are all wannabe Police Officers, and that sooner or later they are going to cause some nasty accidents by there actions. I do hope however im wrong.