Why do roads need to remain closed for so long after a crash?

[Puddingpieplum]

Reading this morning about a 3 car crash on the M4 where someone sadly died, RIP.

The motorway was closed for 13 hours, with some traffic being held overnight for 5 hours. To my mind this causes risks to people stuck in traffic without food and fluid. People who may need medication. Of course the people who then tear through country lanes looking for a route to work / their appointment etc.

Of course casualties/ bodies need to be removed, accident scene photos taken, the road cleaned and made safe etc, but 13 hours?!

Does anyone know the reasoning behind these very long closures? I'm so curious.

I read the arguments on the gwent police posts on fb.

You have to be organised if you are travelling. I used to just hop in the car and go but I've been in enough traffic jams to realise it's better to be prepared in case of events like last night.

Often the police need to investigate, review the road, how the crash may have happened, look at tyre marks etc. then they will have to remove everything then the road and barriers may need repairs

I know all the reasons as detailed. However, I think the police should be far more proactive at releasing trapped traffic. The signs should start a couple of junctions before so that people can turn off and take alternative routes. Turn the trapped traffic the wrong way if necessary and escort them back to the previous junction.

@LutonBeds with all due respects I think that they do try their best but procedures are procedures and if they didn’t investigate it thoroughly or if they didn’t clean up properly then they would have more problems on their hands.

And they only have so much they can control I suppose, I wonder is the traffic management completely up to them or is there a team (not police) who control notifications and traffic warnings etc

That’s not for police to do, that’s what the Highways agency is for . There aren’t enough police to manage the traffic as well as investigate the scene , take all the details , initial witness statements , breath test each driver , arrange vehicle removals , go as continuity officer officers for the seriously injured in case they die , and deal with all the other agencies involved . Highways agency now do traffic on major roads , with crash cushions etc , but it’s their motorway control rooms that have control over the matrix boards , not police .

They do turn people round

How do you know that everyone ate and drank just before they got into their car?! Imagine if the crash was at 6pm.and you had been in the office all day. You might not have eaten since midday. Just one of multiple scenarios where everyone doesn't eat before each turn at the wheel.

I am surprised that things can't be done in the dark, with proper special large lights, so that all the road can be scanned and evidence taken, and any temporary repairs to eg say central barrier for example, be done, to get the road re-opened asap.

If the victim died as a result of someone else's criminally bad driving, don't you want to see the criminal driver put behind bars?

That's why the closure after an accident where someone is killed or seriously injured takes so long. When nobody's badly hurt, the road does normally get re-opened a lot quicker.

That said if traffic's blocked for five hours, I'm surprised they weren't getting people turned round and off the motorway at the previous exit a lot sooner.

I have 2 experiences to share

• a friend of mine died on a motorway and it was shut for hours as it was a complex horrific case. The investigation took 14 plus hours and the family got some insight owing to this
• a friend of mine was stuck with a very young baby following an accident a couple of miles from home on a summers day. The police organised for her partner to under supervision walk to her to take over for him to take over moving the car whilst she took the baby home

Hope that gives an insight that they manage the whole incident which involves as many agencies as needed

Fair enough closing the road for a serious accident but the police now seem to close both carriage ways for hours on end. My son has been stuck for 4 or 5 hours recently on 2 separate occasions because the police closed both carriageways, even though the accident was mainly on the hard shoulder of the other side. No need for it at all

Skipping food for hours, even a day (unless medical need) is really not going to kill someone. Yes they might feel hungry but its not a medical emergency. People never used to need to eat constantly and it was never considered a risk to health until our 24/7 feeding culture.

They wouldn’t do it if there wasn’t a need.

@DyslexicPoster you should always have water and snacks in your car. Regardless of how long you think a journey will/should take. That’s common sense surely??

But as @Martinii states for the average person it’s not going to kill them. For anyone else e.g diabetics etc or someone who is travelling with a baby. They will be prepared I can guarantee it.

I was also going to say watch some of the crash detectives or similar. They show all of the investigations needed to figure out what happened.

There will be a need. They can't have people gawping at an investigation on the other sideof the road.

Skipping food for hours, even a day (unless medical need) is really not going to kill someone. Yes they might feel hungry but its not a medical emergency. People never used to need to eat constantly and it was never considered a risk to health until our 24/7 feeding culture.

People can always carry water and non-perishable food in their cars, along with their first aid kit and other essentials.

My son has been stuck for 4 or 5 hours recently on 2 separate occasions because the police closed both carriageways, even though the accident was mainly on the hard shoulder of the other side. No need for it at all

They might have wanted to bring the air ambulance in to land on the other carriageway. Or wanted to keep it free for emergency vehicle access.

Brilliant series though heartbreaking in parts.

That usually happens if there's a possibility an air ambulance might be needed. It also happens to stop further accidents caused by rubber necking.

I'm just grateful every time I arrive somewhere safely. Have witnessed a couple of fatal accidents and a few multicar pileups but thankfully even though a van pulled in front of me, where there wasn't really enough space, to avoid an accident, I managed to stop. Even to this day I don't know how I stopped.

A few weeks ago there was a highways resurfacing truck parked up just before I joined the M25. When I got on a mile or two down the road the fire brigade and police were clearing a vehicle fire. The truck was clearly waiting for the ok to come down and repair the surface. It was pretty slick. They kept the traffic flowing in one lane while they were sorting it out. As far as I could see that was "just" a fire so no need to do collision measurements and so on.

They'd have to get loads of these special large lights and get them into position and make sure they haven't missed any body parts flung into the air during the crash

And by the time the had them up it would be morning, and also where do they put them? How do they know they won’t impose with the scene etc?

Of course they just shut it for fun, let themselves have a picnic in the road!

or maybe they are dealing with a complex situation the best way they can while ensuring they also get home safe after their shift.