Bad drivers putting lives of Staffordshire and Cheshire road workers in danger
Highways officials say they're seeing a rise in dangerous behaviour
Last updated 15th Apr 2024
We're being told more and more highways workers on and around Staffordshire and Cheshire's roads and motorways are being put in extreme danger by careless and impatient drivers.
New footage released by National Highways reveals one traffic officer jumping onto a verge as a speeding vehicle headed towards her, a car careering through the middle of roadworks and one vehicle ignoring a road block and almost hitting a traffic officer at the scene.
Speaking to Hits Radio Staffordshire & Cheshire News in Doxey, Stafford, National Highways Traffic Officer Geraint Parry said: "We had a broken down vehicle which two of our guys were clearing in the carriageway.
"One of the drivers didn't see the traffic officer vehicle and drove passed the rolling road block, and effectively ending up driving 70mph towards our workers in the carriageway."
Having suffered two frightening near misses on our M6, National Highways Traffic Officer Michel Reitsma – who is known as Mickey - said:
“We don’t stop traffic for the sake of it, we are trying to keep the area safe. You are trying to do your job, trying to help people and protect them and there are some with a mindset to be abusive or behave recklessly. It is just not necessary.”
"The last two or three years we've seen a real shift in behaviour."
In the first incident, Mickey had stopped traffic at a junction to repair a pothole. An impatient driver decided to ignore the road block and go around the traffic officer vehicle – nearly hitting Mickey in the process as he was getting out of his car.
Mickey said: “Before getting out of my vehicle I first checked my mirror and the vehicle in question was still there. As I opened the door they have come past. They had to squeeze between a wall and my vehicle and clipped the mirror – but it could have been me.”
In the second, near junction 10, Mickey was leading a rolling road block because of a broken down vehicle ahead. Again a driver broke free and got ahead of the traffic officer vehicle.
Mickey said: “It was quite close to an exit slip so one person thought ‘this isn’t for me, I can get off’ and just pulled around me, around the road block, and drove off. It was so dangerous.”
In the six years he has been a traffic officer he has been physically threatened or even attacked.
"Danger and abuse that traffic officers receive is getting worse"
Mickey explained: “I don’t want to stop traffic, I want to get it moving as soon as possible. But I want to get traffic going safely, safety is paramount.”
Footage from the incidents was shared with the police to pursue prosecutions.
The introduction of body cameras for traffic officers, in addition to vehicle cameras, has made it easier to capture incidents of both dangerous driving and abuse. Mickey thinks it is important to send out a message to the minority of drivers who do so.
“It is in the highway code that people have to respond to our instructions but they don’t always. They think ‘it is only a traffic officer’ and that they can do anything they like. Only when they are fined do some people realise it is illegal and also that it is not acceptable to be abusive to traffic officers who are just doing their job.”
National Highways Director of Health, Safety and Wellbeing, Mel Clarke, said:
“Nobody should have to go to work knowing they may be at risk because of the reckless, thoughtless and dangerous actions of some people.
“The safety and wellbeing of our own workforce and our supply chain workers is an absolute priority. Anyone who puts that safety at risk either intentionally or carelessly should be aware that it will not be tolerated and we will work with police to take action against those who do so.”