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.

All it takes is a quick google to show that the incident that's closed the m5 has led to a teenage girl suffering serious injuries. For it to be closed until the early hours of the morning there's a good chance that girl has now died.

The traffic will be turned around and directed off the motorway. But being stuck in a car is a lot worse than suffering serious injuries or losing a family member.

@DontBiteTheCat It wasn't a crash. A teenage girl jumped. She was taken to hospital hours ago.

It's possible to be sympathetic for the person involved in the accident and still upset and frustrated by the delays. I would think it is possible to adequately investigate a traffic incident while still prioritising getting traffic moving. These things are not mutually exclusive. OP is absolutely reasonable to be worried about her DD, a delay like that can cause huge stress

It’s likely to have been a fatality so this seems incredibly insensitive. At least your daughter is safe and well and will get home. Sadly others won’t.

It's a disgrace isn't it?! 'But why, WHY can't they clear the road quicker?'

FFS!

I bet none of these individuals would volunteer to go and help, even if they could see the incident from their living room window. Probably sit there moaning that the blue lights from the emergency vehicles are spoiling their chances to take a photograph of the moon!

Usually when they know that the motorway is going to be shut for a significant period of time they start turning the traffic around and merge them back in at the previous junction. Have seen them do this numerous times.
6 hours seems an excessive amount of time to be stuck without starting to free the trapped vehicles.
Awful for the family and those having to deal with such an horrific incident.

I'm sorry for your loss x

I’m very sorry to hear that

How's she supposed to get to this hotel, pick up her car and walk???

Stress v a dead teenager.

It says it all really

If the traffic is gridlocked........its gridlocked. Hundreds, thousands of people stuck. Its a logistical nightmare for the emergency services and others who help to manage the road network. With new traffic joining all the time. Its not fun at all to be stuck like that but it is what it is. And better to be stuck than to be actually in the accident (or to have witnessed it)

Yes it is possible to feel annoyed at the delay and also feel for the injured, but the attitude from some posters on here (including the OP) does not illustrate that. All they care about is the 'inconvenience.'

Can they not get 1 lane moving...6+ hours is an awful long time especially if you need medication or have small children with no provision. I'm not trying to belittle the awful situation that's happened but surely there must be a better way ?

@BitOutOfPractice no not off the top of my head actually. I have indeed lived in France and Spain and travelled round many countries in Europe. As far as I see, we are the worst country at keeping roads closed for several hours and doing nothing that all to help stranded motorists.

Is she near the Gloucester services? Once moving could she stop there for sleeping? Start again in the morning?

Really?

Im from another country and it always makes me wonder why in the UK it takes many more hours than on my own country to clear up after an accident. You can feel empathetic with those affected by the accidents whilst also wondering why does it take that long to reopen the roads. If what some poster has said is what has happened, then you don’t need 6h or a whole day to investigate what happened. Thought that’s why we had cameras everywhere in this country. So it helps with the investigations

People can help traffic to move more quickly by not being a massive fucking idiot that twists their necks to look at a car crash.

I don't really understand what the fascination is.

It's not merely inconvenience for many people - elderly, very young, pregnant, disabled, ill etc. It's actually dangerous. The highways agency needs to be better equipped and prepared for this. They have no idea who is actually stuck for 6 hours and what they need to be kept safe.

I’ve recently been stuck twice for hours in the middle lane on the M25 in gridlocked traffic behind accidents 😬 Not easy when you’re tired, cold, hungry or desperate for the loo! I always feel sorry for those with very young children or the elderly. Of course most of my sympathy lies with the poor people involved in the accident but I agree there should be more escape routes on long motorways. I was fortunate the last time that after 2 hours of being completely stationary, the police closed all lanes and directed traffic up a slipway that I managed to do a detour from.

It's also easy to say that people going on a long journey should prepare but you don't always go on a motorway for an epic journey. I do plenty of 10-20 mile journeys on motorways. Why would I pack like I was going on an expedition.

Thanks for this. I’ve just bookmarked the homepage.

OP - I hope your daughter is out of the queue soon.

This happened to me when I was in my twenties. They came and closed the road behind me eventually and turned everyone around to get off at the previous junction. I was one of the last people they let drive through a flood which was pretty scary as a young woman on my own. A 2 and half hour journey took 10 hours. They will sort it out, it just takes time.

How is it dangerous? Genuinely? I'm sorry your daughter is stuck but someone else's daughter has just jumped from a motorway bridge.

Do you know how troubled you need to be to do that? Let alone as a teenager?