DD has been stuck on the M5 for 6 hours

[GinForBreakfast]

I know there's been a serious incident but you can't leave people stuck on a motorway for 6 hours. That will include elderly people and tiny children. In other countries they manage to clear the roads far quicker.

No sign of anything moving and even once she does she's still 4 hours from home.

It's bad isn't it. I always think of people who have emergencies who are stuck there. People with autistic children etc
It's such a long time

And what does getting impatient or frustrated achieve though? No point ruining your own mood over a situation you can't control. I'd be playing my music, reading a book on my phone or surfing the Internet instead of getting irritated.

It's a feeling, not something deliberate.

I just don't believe you'd be totally zen with it.

I think @VegTrugis perfectly calm and I agree with what she said.

Do they check out in your driving test what emergency supplies you have in your car?

I don't think it is.

Thank you so much for educating me. Who knew??!🙄

@GinForBreakfast

Some limited details were shared on Gloucestershire live though there's no update on the condition, just taken to Bristol children's hospital. I looked hoping they reported good news for the sake of the family, my heart goes out to them.

Tbf, that doesn't necessarily help. As I mentioned at the start of this thread, we have been in the situation of leaving the motorway simply to be stuck on local roads which were trying and failing to cope with not only the usual local traffic, but also all the traffic that could not get on the motorway, and all the traffic that was being taken off the motorway.

It is possible to clear traffic that is stuck but it is a long time-consuming process. The barriers can be removed in places to allow access on to the opposite carriageway but that requires highways staff to be able to get there with the correct equipment and requires the opposite carriageway to be closed (with obvious knock-on effects). The alternative is to close the motorway a couple of junctions before the back of the queue and then have every car turn round, drive back to the last junction and leave that way, although that also requires a lot of traffic management, adds more traffic to local roads, and can only be done one vehicle at a time. It's not as easy as some people seem to think it is.

The news quite rightly tends to not make a news item of suicide or attempted suicide as it tends to spawn a rash of “ Copy cat” events at that spot.

( Every Suicide spot has noticed an increase if publicised)

Japan used to publish numbers at a popular spot , but noticed a rise in Suicide afterwards.

They no longer do.

Hope no one else was injured in the incident, either, by sudden braking &c.

People tend to drive far too close on motorways as a rule anyway, so sudden braking will cause problems.

Unfortunately when a motorway is shut for that period of time there is usually a fatality involved or a life changing injury so the motorway is treated as a crime scene. It can easily span all three lanes. It's usual for police to close the motorway to stop others from joining, but it's hard when you've passed all the junctions and are stuck directly behind the accident. Occasionally they will let those waiting turn around drive back up the motorway and then loop off at a slip road, but only if there is one close by and it's safe to do som that's happened to me once before.

The M5 is shocking. This happens so often. Pretty much every week in summer.

If you thought properly, you would see the point.

Its not my job to explain it if you cant work it out - its pretty self explanatory.

Are you 12?

Projecting much?

Proof enough, you didnt understand the point I made.

Quit while you're behind.

I thought it was a shit point. Pointless in fact.

But sorting an alternative route to some extent just moves the problem somewhere else. Sorting that out will take a long time. It's not going to be any more fun being in a queue on a minor road in Somerset. And maybe getting ambulances, fire engines etc. to the accident is more important than the queue?

I don't think it is necessarily crass, no one is suggesting that the emergency services involved in dealing with whatever the incident is stop doing that to sort out traffic. There are different agencies to do that and one would hope theyve have a joined up policy on how to act in road incidents

The sanctimony on this thread is truly astonishing...

My point is that there is no way of diverting people who have already passed that junction.

The Highways Agency already have procedures for this and I explained in a reply to you several pages ago that these procedures unavoidably take a long time.

Ultimately, as you and I agree, any car journey runs the risk of a major delay like this. I would argue that it's for the driver to ensure that the occupants of the vehicle have enough supplies to accommodate delays.

Expecting the police, Highways Agency, and other public officials to sort everything out for you quickly because you didn't want to keep a cagoule and some energy bars in your car is unrealistic, unreasonable, and frankly a bit immature.

A lot like this post of yours.

As said, quit while you're behind.

YABU, the road stays shut for so long for a reason.
I am sure if you had a loved one who tragically lost their life on the motorway, you would want it thoroughly investigated. They can only do that whilst the debris is still on the road.