Life patrolling the West Midlands’ motorways where you never know what to expect
In one moment, they could be dealing with a swan that's landed on the M6 in Great Barr, which has mistaken the rain-soaked tarmac for a pond. The next minute, they could be at the scene of a fatal crash or tracking down an Uber Eats cyclist down the motorway.
Occasionally, traffic officers are abused by members of the public in the line of duty. Drivers have been known to even throw bottles of urine at them from a passing window - known as "driver tizer".
Life as a traffic officer is a highly challenging role, one that requires quick thinking and the ability to stay clam under pressure. Their job is to patrol our motorways, ensuring traffic flows free and safely - and respond to incidents when they occur, great and small.
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Sometimes, traffic officers get mistaken for police. You may have seen them parked up in laybys or driving past on motorways. Their vehicles feature black and yellow squares, similar to the police with blue and yellow squares, which can cause confusion. Traffic officers have the power to close lanes but they can't issue tickets, unlike police.
The West Midlands has a particularly busy network of motorways, including the M6, M5 and M42, which all need patrolling. For traffic officer Simon Wardle, who BlackCountryLive joined on a ride out, his patch covered a 43-mile area from Junction 14 of the M6, Stafford, down to Junction 5 of the M5, Droitwich, and everything in between.
Simon Wardle
Being such a bustling area, Simon admitted: "Rush hour doesn't seem to exist now." This was evident within the first 20 minutes of our ride out, where three separate incidents took place - such was the volume of traffic. Debris had fallen off a taxi in the fast lane, while a smoking vehicle clogged up visibility on the M6 southbound and a breakdown truck was parked in a tricky location near to Junction 10 -
In the boot of Simon's vehicle - which was a new, hybrid Volvo XC90 - were all the tools he needed to respond to situations. There were road signs which could be rolled up, a jump pack, winches for towing vehicles, a defibrillator and thermal blankets to keep stranded drivers warm.
On any given day, traffic officers won't know what they're facing or where they'll be needed. The job is versatile. Describing one incident, the 50-year-old said: "We had a cyclist on the motorway, from Uber, at Junction 6, Spaghetti Junction. The Sat Nav was set to a car. I had to get two crews out, one to pick him up and the other for the bike. I spoke to his boss and said 'please can you let your workers know, don't come on the motorway'."
Simon's also seen vehicles going in the fast lane whilst towing caravans - which is illegal. And while off-duty, he's also witnessed a vehicle coming towards him the opposite way in the same carriageway, an unnerving experience.
Inside the Volvo XC90
Animals wandering into traffic is another issue. The M54 is a hotspot area as the motorway passes through farmland. A family of grazing deer are also known to enter the M6 Toll which winds through the countryside.
It's not just rural stretches that experience animal intrusions - urban areas do too. Swans are known to land on the motorway after rainfall, including Junction 7 of the M6, Great Barr, which is near to Sandwell[3] Valley where there are ponds.
As we drive through that junction, Simon said: "As soon as it rains, from up there, because this is now wet, it looks like water so they land on the motorway thinking it is a pond or a lake or a river. You have got to put a block (closure) on the carriageway - and on the opposite side too - because if the swan decides to go and fly over onto the other side, and the other carriageway isn't stopped, you've then got a different problem."
He continued: "Most of the rural network, the M54, the M5, the M6 Toll and M50, you'll get muntjac deer. Especially after it has rained, they will come down from the fields and forests and they will eat the verge because it is succulent, fresh grass. The problem is, they don't see all these vehicles.
"They will then walk across the carriageway. We have protocols in place, we put signs up to warn people and lower the speeds on the motorway." He added: "I've seen the aftermath a few times, it is disgusting."
Domestic cats and dogs have been known to escape through car windows, too. Sometimes, when a motorist has broken down on the hard shoulder, and they've had their dog on a lead on the verge, it has been "spooked" by traffic and the dog has run onto the motorway.
For this reason, Simon encourages drivers to keep their dogs in the car if they've broken down. He said: "As harsh as it seems, please put your dog back in the car. That is for everybody's safety."
One tricky customer is a dog that's become well-known for making appearances on the M6 near Corley Services, between Junctions 3 and 3a. The dog "comes through a fence", said Simon, who added: "No one can catch him. We'll no trace it, a couple of days later he'll be back."
The equipment carried by traffic officers in the back of the Volvo XC90
Ironically, it was an animal-related incident that pushed Simon to become a traffic officer. The former West Midlands Police[4] officer said: "I was on my back from Cornwall on holiday and I got caught up in a block. I was one of the first vehicles there. He (the traffic officer) stopped the traffic, it was for a dead fox. I closed a lane off because it was a three-lane stretch and two lanes were covered. I thought hold on a sec, I could do that job."
In some cases, when there have been serious crashes, incident screens are brought in via trailers. These large, green screens are stood upright to prevent motorists on the opposite carriageway from looking in.
As we perch on a service road near Junction 5 of the M6, Castle Bromwich, Simon said: "Luckily, if you can say that, the fatal incidents I have been to, I've always been on closures," said Simon, meaning he's been in charge of directing traffic. Pointing to the motorway in front of us, he said: "So now for example, I would put cones across and put everyone down that slip road which is going to cause absolute carnage. But if that's the only way for the scene to be sterile and safe for all emergency services to attend, then that's what I will do.
"We've got to give them that area where they (the emergency services) can walk around the carriageway, take measurements and deal with injured people. If, unfortunately, it becomes a fatal, the last thing the police want is anybody driving through evidence, skid marks, debris from vehicles. Unfortunately, and it has happened, there's been a body on the motorway. It is things like that which is the reason why we close motorways."
He added: "We don't do it for a laugh, it is very expensive on the economy closing motorways. But it is needs must because the quicker we can get it closed then the quicker we can get it reopened and everyone can get back to their journey."
Given traffic officers have a public-facing role, they can get abuse from members of the public. For their safety, they're equipped with body-worn cameras.
Simon said: "Not just us, but police, ambo, fire, be it the crews that fix potholes, barrier damage, deal with dead animals, debris, we all get mass amounts of abuse, both verbal and physical. Driver tizer is a bottle that HGV drivers pee in and then chuck it onto the side of the motorway for us to clean up.
National Highways' traffic depot at Bescot in Walsall
"There have been incidents where those have been chucked at - not me - but other traffic officers as well. I get the frustration, especially with HGVs because they are on a time. But, ultimately, our responsibility is safety. If we can't respond without putting a block on, we're going to put a block on."
Another incident saw traffic officers close a regional motorway after "three attempted suicides in one junction at exactly the same time", said Simon. The closure prompted a tirade of abuse from drivers caught in the closure. Simon added: "I got so much earache. I was there from 6am until 1pm. The grief I got was horrific. They're having a go at the uniform, not the person inside. We have that a hell of a lot."
Simon, alongside his colleagues, are the feet on the ground, driving up and down the motorways whilst the control room observes traffic from cameras overhead. "Ultimately, the role we play on the motorways is to use traffic officers, technology, to make sure the traffic runs smoothly," he said.
He added: "The motorway, in general, is so versatile. There's so many different types of vehicles, motorists' capabilities, experience, the conditions of vehicles. It's absolutely nuts but I enjoy it."
References
- ^ I went on the shortest train ride in Europe for £1.15 - and I didn't even have time to finish my espresso (www.birminghammail.co.uk)
- ^ BirminghamLive WhatsApp (chat.whatsapp.com)
- ^ Sandwell (www.birminghammail.co.uk)
- ^ West Midlands Police (www.birminghammail.co.uk)