Not so much an AIBU, but is it possible to check out this story?

[narisha99]

Is it possible to look up historical traffic data?

I have a colleague who blames her absence from an important teams meeting due to a 'at a standstill for 2 hours on the M4' on Friday afternoon (she had a lunchtime appointment, but says she got home at 5pm instead of 3pm).

Quite frankly she has form for lying, and I think this was an excuse for not attending a meeting :-( .

Is there anyway I can find out if this big accident actually happened or not?

Are you her manager? If not, mind your business.

Is it your role to do that? Eg you're her manager, or you are HR or something and there are company policies that would mean it's a disciplinary matter?

What would you do with this 'proof' if it were gettable?

if It’s just for curiosity you can check Twitter or Bristol live?
but unless it was a very serious newsworthy accident I doubt it will help you.

Local news updates for the area.
Which section of M4 would colleague have been travelling on

. traffic M4 26th here you go op.

Just googled M4 Friday 26th April 2024..

As in Friday just gone?

Yes there was an issue on the M4 on Friday afternoon with a broken down vehicle causing tailbacks, the traffic didn't really clear fully until after 6pm

Why on earth wouldn't you google before posting on mumsnet?

Although as PP have said- unless you are her manager, mind your own business. I couldn't work with a busybody like you in an environment where I wasn't trusted to tell the truth.

Turns out she was telling the truth.

But if the rest of her colleagues are interfering busybodies who check up on her behind her back when it's not their job then I don't blame her for trying to avoid meeting with you all on a Friday afternoon.

@Berga Yes I do manage her.

It was London end of M4, westbound from Heathrow.

I thought Wave or Google maps might have something, but was struggling to find it

If you're really her manager then the appropriate course of action if you suspect she is lying is to have a meeting with her and ask her about it- not snoop online to try and catch her out.

Given nobody here knows which part of the M4 the OP's colleague would've been on, those info links are irrelevant.

Yes I did try googling for news reports, but nothing came up for that stretch.

There is a big back story with this lady, and she has not always been honest. I manage her and it is likely to become an HR issue, so I wanted to understand if I was wrong to doubt her, or if I should give her the benefit of the doubt

You appear to have a very hostile view of your colleague. While you may have good reason to, you approach is terrible. If she finds this post, I'm sure HR will have a word with you, as it's very unprofessional.

Google the junctions you think she’d have used.

but I had to do a big drive on Friday afternoon and I do remember (when stuck in a queue on the M25) the radio traffic and travel mentioned issues with the M4. You could probably listen back to Scott Mills’ after show on radio 2 on sounds and listen out for the traffic and travel bulletin if you can’t find anything. But I know there was something up on Friday.

Which is why I want to be prepared ahead of that meeting

Op have a look for M4 Live updates it's a Facebook set up you can go back to Friday abd see the updates. Some stuff around junction 5 at the time you are speaking off

You could ask her if she’s able to call from her car on hands free, as you’d prefer as a courtesy she lets you know she won’t be joining meetings if stuck in traffic. Failing that, call you when she was home to let you know the situation so you can brief her as soon as possible about what she’s missed.

There are various motorway specific Twitter feeds you can scroll back through

I totally understand why, as her manager, you want to get your facts right. If she has form for not telling the truth, you can't necessarily take her word for it.

Overturned car at junction 3 westbound on Friday afternoon if that helps? No serious injuries bit it spread across several lanes causing severe tailbacks.

This is a public forum and AIBU gets a lot of views. YANBU to check but you're taking a risk if your member of staff would be able to identify themselves from this post.

Sometimes bad traffic on motorways will be tweeted about by local highways teams. But I don't know how you'd ever be able to prove it didnt happen, just because you can't find a record of it.

You can make a FOI request I think. No idea of the cost or timescale though.

Take a look at the National Highways website for info.

This is completely unprofessional if you are indeed her manager. If you’ve got an issue raise it with her or HR. Good luck proving that it didn’t happen though, unless you’ve got solid 100% proof she’s lying I don’t think you can “catch” people out like this.