The Watchmen are watching...

Following on from local MP George Young witnessing first-hand a car leaving the Tufton sliproad and immediately veering onto the wrong side of the road with the intention of turning right up the southbound sliproad, the HA was forced to invent a new excuse: The Watchmen Are Watching.

Who are The Watchmen? Specifically they are Accident Incident Watchmen, or 'AIW's'. Apparently these people are employees of the area contractors (not the HA itself). They 'patrol and monitor' the roads on a daily basis in accordance with their 'Health and Safety procedures to ensure safety of workforce and road users while site visits are undertaken'. Identified issues are then fed back to the HA via a 'Watchman Report'.

Noting the italics above - these 'Watchmen' don't seem to have a remit to look at general road safety issues like poorly-designed intersections - they appear to be focused on specific visits or works.

In the HA letter to George Young of 28th Jan 2013 (assuming this is actually 2014 and the HA simply don't know what year it is) they state 'any future misuse of the sliproad can be reported ... on 0300 125 5000'. They also suggest members of the public report 'misuse' to the Police.

So we seem to have come full circle. Nearly two years ago we started down a road where locals were complaining to the HA, to the local contractor, to the Police and to their MP and councillors. Things Were Looked At. The HA wrote a flawed, self-contradictory report that acknowledged the issue of the road layout, but then went on to say that as this had no influence on collisions that happened 500 yards away due to different issues of speed and cornering, there was no problem.

Now following many residents and the local MP witnessing first-hand a potentially fatal driver error that was 100% attributable to the poor road layout, the HA response is 'we are Watching on a daily basis, please let us know if you think anything is wrong'.

One wonders if the HA have a sweepstake running on just how long they can drag this out before residents give up and resign themselves to the death of a friend, neighbour or loved one.

When local residents offered to collate video evidence of vehicles crossing the centreline, the response from the HA was as follows (by email, 30th Jan 2014):

"...it would not be possible to use video footage or the number of vehicles crossing the centreline as evidence. This would mean that we were not adhering to the nationally consistent process for obtaining funding to undertake safety improvement works"

Yes. The *only* way to get that funding is via a formula. A formula that says 'X people have died or been seriously injured. This equals £Y funding, let's go fix the problem'.

In other words, we will accept nothing less than a death or serious injury at this location as proof it is dangerous.

If no-one's been injured or killed yet, there is clearly no problem.

Suggestions on where to go from here are most welcome. The HA is clearly unable to grasp the concept of fixing something *before* someone is hurt or killed.  The HA is a statutory body who is judge, jury and executioner of road safety, to whom a senior MP witnessing a potentially fatal traffic error is a mere inconvenience to be fobbed off. What hope a small community?

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The following response has been sent to the HA today, after a similar reply was received regarding the proposal to collect video evidence'Watchmen':

Dear Mr Degallerie

Thankyou for your information regarding the previously-unheard-of 'Watchmen' who apparently ceaselessly prowl the roading network, seeking out and reporting on potential or actual Health And Safety breaches. I welcome your assurance that they are aware of all problems on the road network and strive to maintain our wellbeing.

• Can you please confirm how many 'Watchmen Reports' have been written on the Tufton intersection over the least 5 years?

• Also on which dates the Watchmen have specifically visited this location and assessed the issue of traffic not adhering to the road layout? I'm assuming that if there was no issues found, that would also be documented?

Also, thankyou for clarifying that video evidence of repeated driver error caused by a confusing road layout would not be considered relevant, and that you only consider the 'nationally consistent process' applicable in this sort of matter. 

• Can you please confirm that under this process, a road user must be seriously injured or killed before the Highways Agency will consider improvements to this intersection? 

Or is there another mechanism apart from spilt blood that can have a bearing on funding allocation? I would hope there was the opportunity for common sense and observation of driver behaviour to have *some* influence (although we appear to have proved that the word of a senior MP has no sway).

Regards

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FOLLOW UP:

After this update was added, a long-time Tufton resident and mother of two reported the following incident to the Highways Agency:

Since you have requested that we advise any "misuse" of the intersection to the HA,  I today reported by phone ... that at 2.45pm I met a vehicle driving UP the off the ramp of the intersection in question as I exited the A34. With my headlights flashing, and hazard lights on the on coming vehicle saw my vehicle in time and did a multiple point turn and safely went down the off ramp, thank fully cars behind me noticed and stopped with space so that we were not on the A34.   

Unfortunately, there didn't appear to be any "watchmen" or "watchwomen" to view the live evidence provided today, nor was there an incident to report to the police.  As always it was just local people sorting out a driver who was unfamiliar with the confusing road layout and many many markings that prevented an incident.

  

When reporting today's "misuse" I was asked if I wished for any feedback on my reason for phoning in and to be honest it would seem pointless as your letter is quite clear that you are not interested until you can "justify investment" for the safety of all road users.  

If at some point there is a tragedy and a life is lost, with all the information and openness over concerns in regard to this intersection the HA may find themselves in a position of having to  provide evidence of  due diligence or duty of care to road uses.  In no dimension am I  exaggerating the dangerousness of this intersection.   Fortunately, yet again no tragedy but it is only a matter of time.