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Motorway fast aid
Page 30
Page 31
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Trials are being carried out of the latest equipment designed to cut the time motorways are closed following crashes. David Harris reports.
Motorway crashes kill people and ruin lives. But they are also expensive to those not directly involved — the Freight Transport Association estimates that a truck caught in a motorway jam costs £40 an hour in running costs alone. A major crash can close a motorway for six hours or more and when a road like the M6 can accommodate 3,000 trucks an hour at peak times the price of a closure quickly escalates.
That's why the Highways Agency (HA) is evaluating some sophisticated equipment to help accident investigation teams carry out their job more quickly.The three pieces of equipment in the trial are designed to accurately measure and record accident scenes much more quickly than in the past (see panel).
The HA has employed the Transport Research Laboratory (TRL) to manage the trial, which is scheduled to last until October. Simon Crowther, collision researcher for the TRL, says the trial team is confining itself to major accidents — those where a police collision investigation officer attends. It will be assessing which equipment works best in various circumstances.
"It may be that different equipment is suitable for different accidents for different areas and therefore for different police forces," he says.
For the HA the major potential benefit is cutting motorway closure time. Accident clear-up times inevitably vary depending on the circumstances but officials hope this kit could cut delays by 50% while allowing accident investigators to do their job properly.
It is also essential that any evidence gathered will be dependable enough to use in court.
Ian Stilgoe, business development manage' at Topcon, the company that produces the electronic theodolite Total Station. says "Essentially what this allows investigators to ck is process a lot of the information which i! gathered in the office, instead of on the road The equipment just speeds up getting the data."
Worth the price
Some of this equipment is expensive — the Rieg laser scanner will set you back £100,000 — bu the leading road transport trade organisation think it is more than justified.
As they point out,this sort of price is dwarfed b: the cost of the congestion caused by motorwa: closures. Geoff Dos. setter, external affair director at the FreightTransport Associatiot says: At peak times a motorway such as th M6 carries 3,000 trucks an hour and the stand ing costs for a single truck stuck there because c a closure are £35-45 an hour."
That equates to £120,000 an hour in stanc ing costs alone, assuming 3,000 trucks at £40 a hour. And that figure doesn't include the hug financial consequences of late deliveries, dril er overtime and, in the worst cases, factorie losing entire shifts because deliveries don arrive on time. Dossetter adds: Our position on this is clear. Because we don't have enough capacity on our roads in the UK the very least we can do is make the most of the capacity we do have — and that means keeping road closures to a minimum. If measures like this help that then they have to be welcomed." The trial is being undertaken in the West Midlands, which is notorious for motorway hold-ups. I IA chief highway engineer Ginny Clarke says: "We know lane and carriageway closures after incidents are frustrating to drivers, but the police must have time for the essential task of gathering evidence at the scene." Other measures the HA is taking in a bid to minimise disruption after accidents include a trial on the Ml in Bedfordshire to stop drivers on the carriageway opposite an accident crawling by to look at what has happened.Thaes why teams are busy erecting screens in the central reservation to protect the sites of the most serious accidents from rubberneckers.
David Kenworthy, a former Chief Constable for North Yorkshire Police and council member of the Institute of Advanced Motorists, says:-Congestion following motorway crashes is had for road safety. Delayed drivers tend to focus only on making up lost time. And, of course, active collision sites can cause secondary collisions on the other motorway because of rubbernecking,"
Costly closures
There were two particularly costly closures last month when fatal crashes brought gridlock to the M42 and M5 in the West Midlands. The lanes remained closed overnight while police investigators collected evidence.
The new equipment was used in these accidents, although only for comparison purposes alongside traditional methods. But next year the HA hopes to be using this kit to cut delays. For operators and drivers alike, the sooner it comes in the better. •