Automobile accidents

[patcasserly]

In the UK, why does it take so long to clear an accident from the road or motorway. In most other countries, after the people innvolved are taken care of, the vehicles are immediately removed and the road/lane reopened to minimize disruption.

[smithers]

I think if an accident is serious enough (i.e. fatal or potentially fatal) the traffic police spend a lot of time gathering evidence for prosecution purposes by measure tyre marks on the roads etc and taking photos. This is just and educated guess as i travel up the notorious A77 every morning to work and i see a lot of bad S*$t. If any one with a more proffessional answer can respond i would also be interested. http://www.a77campaign.co.uk/campaign.htm

[Zulu]

At the scene of a Road Traffic Collision as they're called now, the priority of the Police is the people in the vehicles. Once they have been taken care of evidence needs to be gathered to establish the cause of the accident. This includes recording skid marks, damge, road conditions etc to find out if anyone was at fault. The vehicles involved may also be taken away for examination by vehicle examiners. Then the road surface needs to be made safe usually by the fire brigade or the council. They remove the debris, oil, fuel, blood etc and check that the road surface is undamaged. The Police will also make a scale drawing of the exact positions of the vehicles in case it is needed in court. Does that answer your question?

[rekstout]

I personally do not have a problem with a delay caused by an accident and bear no malice towards the emergency services. Having been involved in an accident which closed a dual carriageway in both directions I know how thorough the emergency services are in investigating an accident and that they are very concious of the need to re-open the road as quickly as possible.

I do like the idea of anti-rubbernecking devices though - some parts of the M6 have some sort of panelling along the central reservation which makes it difficult to see through when travelling slowly - I guess it is cost that is the limiting factor. Mobile screens would take time to deliver and erect safely (so they don't blow away for example), by which time there would probably be nothing to see anyway.