Crash debris affecting my blood pressure.

[Borris]

Why oh why do we have to put up with this mess after almost every road traffic incident?



This is a photo of the debris left by the side of the road following Prince Phillip's recent crash. I am not including it in order to make any comment about that incident but merely to vent my spleen about the constant issue of road side debris following road accidents. We've all seen it, piles of plastic, broken glass, whole damaged windscreens and other, sometimes large broken vehicle parts just lying their, waiting either for nature to absorb them or for the unseen secret clear up fairies to attend and tidy up.

Every time I see this my blood pressure goes up as there is absolutely no reason for it to happen. If Joe Bloggs is involved in an accident then the vehicle debris still belongs to the vehicle to which it was previously attached. During a previous life in the fire service I regularly attended road traffic collisions as the incident commander. When ever possible, I used to insist that as much of the debris as possible was placed or shoveled into the damaged vehicle before being removed. Most of these vehicles were write offs and even if they weren't why should the countryside and road side verges be littered with what can sometimes be dangerous and unsightly debris?

In my opinion it should be made an offence for accident debris to be abandoned by the side of the road after the vehicle has been removed. Ultimately it should be the owners responsibility to clear it away as it is their vehicle and therefore their property. This would be the case in most minor accidents. However that would often prove impractical due either to thier being incapacitated as a result of the accident or on grounds of road safety concerns whilst clearing the debris. The legal duty to clear up this mess should therefore be automatically transferred to a recovery firm if they are called to remove a vehicle. By not clearing all debris away they would not be fulfilling their contract and therefore liable to proscecution. As these recovery firms are often called by the police they could also risk losing the contract if they fail to clear away properly. I must acknowledge that some recovery firms may already have a clause in their contracts that says just this.

There, rant over.

 

[Jabberwocky]

Why oh why do we have to put up with this mess after almost every road traffic incident?

View attachment 40915

This is a photo of the debris left by the side of the road following Prince Phillip's recent crash. I am not including it in order to make any comment about that incident but merely to vent my spleen about the constant issue of road side debris following road accidents. We've all seen it, piles of plastic, broken glass, whole damaged windscreens and other, sometimes large broken vehicle parts just lying their, waiting either for nature to absorb them or for the unseen secret clear up fairies to attend and tidy up.

Every time I see this my blood pressure goes up as there is absolutely no reason for it to happen. If Joe Bloggs is involved in an accident then the vehicle debris still belongs to the vehicle to which it was previously attached. During a previous life in the fire service I regularly attended road traffic collisions as the incident commander. When ever possible I used to insist that as much of the debris as possible was placed or shoveled into the damaged vehicle before being removed. Most of these vehicles were write offs and even if they weren't why should the countryside and road side verges be littered with what can sometimes be dangerous and unsightly debris?

In my opinion it should be made an offence for accident debris to be abandoned by the side of the road after the vehicle has been removed. Ultimately it should be the owners responsibility to clear it away as it is their vehicle and therefore their property. This would be the case in most small accidents. However that would often prove impractical due either to thier being incapacitated as a result of the accident or on grounds of road safety concerns whilst clearing the debris. The legal duty to clear up this mess should therefore be automatically transferred to a recovery firm if they are called to remove a vehicle. By not clearing all debris away they would not be fulfilling their contract and therefore liable to proscecution. As these recovery firms are often called by the police they could also risk losing the contract if they fail to clear away properly. I must acknowledge that some recovery firms may already have a clause in their contracts that says just this.

There, rant over.

Well said, I agree entirely.
That said I do not hold out too much hope of any change soon from this seemingly acceptable behavior. Why? We live in a society that seems to think that fly tipping and littering in general is acceptable. Just take a look at our hedgerows. Lurking in the bottom is any amount/numbers of fast food wrappers, beer bottles, cans, building rubble, old TV's, bin bags full of nappies ++, etc etc. There isn't a day that goes by that I don't find someone elses litter that has been blown into my driveway. It's a national disgrace.

 

[Rich20]

Just another case of no one willing to take responsibility or doing something more than the bare minimum that they can get away with.

 

[Big Bloke]

"During a previous life in the fire service I regularly attended road traffic collisions as the incident commander. When ever possible I used to insist that as much of the debris as possible was placed or shoveled into the damaged vehicle before being removed. Most of these vehicles were write offs and even if they weren't why should the countryside and road side verges be littered with what can sometimes be dangerous and unsightly debris?"
We always used to do the same at RTC's , however anything that the Police were going to be investigating ( and I'd guess the above RTC would be . we had to leave all crash debris in situ as far as possible until all measuring up etc had been carried out, by which time we were usually back at the station. I think the Police should take some responsibility in these incidents to ensure the scene is properly cleared after investigations.

 

[AlanC]

Slightly diverting the topic:

I get really p****d off when dog owners carefully pick up their pet's poo in a small black plastic bag, tie a knot in it, and...hang it on a fence!

Have seen this on the beach, on railings along suburban roads and chucked into the hedgerow along country lanes. Before Christmas I watched an owner walk through a local urban car park, pick up the poo the dog had just done and leave the bag on the curb around a hedge plot 10mtrs away. There was a bin a little further on which he must have passed. The poo bag stayed there for weeks.

Who do they think is going to clear this up?

Can't they take it home!

R.O.

Alan

 

[kave]

Here in Sweden the one towing the vehicle is responsible for cleaining up and taking away stuff from the vehicle at the crash scene. The have a brush etc in the tow vehicle to clean up.

 

[Borris]

Well said, I agree entirely.
That said I do not hold out too much hope of any change soon from this seemingly acceptable behavior. Why? We live in a society that seems to think that fly tipping and littering in general is acceptable. Just take a look at our hedgerows. Lurking in the bottom is any amount/numbers of fast food wrappers, beer bottles, cans, building rubble, old TV's, bin bags full of nappies ++, etc etc. There isn't a day that goes by that I don't find someone elses litter that has been blown into my driveway. It's a national disgrace.

Don't get me started Rik!

 

[Borris]

Slightly diverting the topic:

I get really p****d off when dog owners carefully pick up their pet's poo in a small black plastic bag, tie a knot in it, and...hang it on a fence!

Have seen this on the beach, on railings along suburban roads and chucked into the hedgerow along country lanes. Before Christmas I watched an owner walk through a local urban car park, pick up the poo the dog had just done and leave the bag on the curb around a hedge plot 10mtrs away. There was a bin a little further on which he must have passed. The poo bag stayed there for weeks.

Who do they think is going to clear this up?

Can't they take it home!

R.O.

Alan

I've never understood the mentality behind this practice. WHY?

 

[Velma's Dad]

I've never understood the mentality behind this practice. WHY?

I've always assumed people pick the stuff up in a bag on their way out on the walk (maybe because someone else is watching pooch squatting and straining on the verge), carry the warm bag along with them a bit until the novelty of finger-twirling it wears off, then hang it from a tree or whatever thinking "I'll collect that on the way back. for sure". But don't.

That, or it's some kind of occult voodoo practice.

Completely vile, either way.

 

[Jabberwocky]

Don't get me started Rik!

No intent! Sorry Paul. (winds me up too!!)

 

[Amarillo]

I've never understood the mentality behind this practice. WHY?

I have solved this puzzle in our local park. A distant neighbour of ours tipped a load of household detritus over their back fence and into the no mans land between their fence and the park wire fence. A local dog owner in retaliation was in the habit of lobbing his dogs’ turds into the back garden of the tipper as a retaliatory measure. The home owner, finding these packages of dog doo doo on his lawn was lobbing them back into the park where they got stuck in the trees.

I asked a question about my neighbour’s fly tipping in the full council meeting, and the matter has been fully resolved with the council taking restorative action against the homeowner without having to spend taxpayers’ money on court action.


Follow my blog: www.au-revoir.eu

 

[Amarillo]

View attachment 40915

This particular debris has now been cleared up a sold to one lucky bidder for £65,900 on EBay.



Follow my blog: www.au-revoir.eu

 

[Stoneybroke]

Here in Sweden the one towing the vehicle is responsible for cleaining up and taking away stuff from the vehicle at the crash scene. The have a brush etc in the tow vehicle to clean up.

Part of the contract for the select few allowed to collect vehicles from collisions - if called by the police - was a full clear up. If people make their own arrangements, this can happen, they just let highways sort it out later.
Standards...

 

[Bromley47]

Why oh why do we have to put up with this mess after almost every road traffic incident?

View attachment 40915

This is a photo of the debris left by the side of the road following Prince Phillip's recent crash. I am not including it in order to make any comment about that incident but merely to vent my spleen about the constant issue of road side debris following road accidents. We've all seen it, piles of plastic, broken glass, whole damaged windscreens and other, sometimes large broken vehicle parts just lying their, waiting either for nature to absorb them or for the unseen secret clear up fairies to attend and tidy up.

Every time I see this my blood pressure goes up as there is absolutely no reason for it to happen. If Joe Bloggs is involved in an accident then the vehicle debris still belongs to the vehicle to which it was previously attached. During a previous life in the fire service I regularly attended road traffic collisions as the incident commander. When ever possible, I used to insist that as much of the debris as possible was placed or shoveled into the damaged vehicle before being removed. Most of these vehicles were write offs and even if they weren't why should the countryside and road side verges be littered with what can sometimes be dangerous and unsightly debris?

In my opinion it should be made an offence for accident debris to be abandoned by the side of the road after the vehicle has been removed. Ultimately it should be the owners responsibility to clear it away as it is their vehicle and therefore their property. This would be the case in most minor accidents. However that would often prove impractical due either to thier being incapacitated as a result of the accident or on grounds of road safety concerns whilst clearing the debris. The legal duty to clear up this mess should therefore be automatically transferred to a recovery firm if they are called to remove a vehicle. By not clearing all debris away they would not be fulfilling their contract and therefore liable to proscecution. As these recovery firms are often called by the police they could also risk losing the contract if they fail to clear away properly. I must acknowledge that some recovery firms may already have a clause in their contracts that says just this.

There, rant over.

Completely agree with you Borris - its just another type of fly tipping surely. We have had two car bumpers in the the hedgerow for weeks now - and if it was the result of a crash should have been cleaned up by the vehicle owner(s)

 

[Velma's Dad]

Completely agree with you Borris - its just another type of fly tipping surely. We have had two car bumpers in the the hedgerow for weeks now - and if it was the result of a crash should have been cleaned up by the vehicle owner(s)

Another big source of roadside debris is the the number of bits of traffic cone, bases of temporary signage, sandbags used to weigh them down, etc etc, that get left in the verges. In our small village we do periodic rubbish collections around 'our' roads and it's amazing what you find and have to take to the tip (alongside of course the endless confetti of drinks cans and Ginsters wrappers that morons presumed to jettison through their side windows, entirely possibly just to wind up old farts like me). Unfortunately there's such a diversity of contractors working on the roads now that you can't call them up and say come and clear up after yourselves, and the council has no money to do 'sweeps' to collect it.

God I'm getting old. I'll be buying the Telegraph next.

 

[BikerGran]

Completely agree with you Borris - its just another type of fly tipping surely. We have had two car bumpers in the the hedgerow for weeks now - and if it was the result of a crash should have been cleaned up by the vehicle owner(s)

Of course it's always possible that the vehicle owners have been carted off to hospital and are in no fit state to clear up. As for the police - they used to clear up the debris but there are so few of them now that they are amlost certain to be called away to another incident which is more urgent than clearing up, as long as the road itself is clear.

 

[Pips Dad]

Slightly diverting the topic:

I get really p****d off when dog owners carefully pick up their pet's poo in a small black plastic bag, tie a knot in it, and...hang it on a fence!

Have seen this on the beach, on railings along suburban roads and chucked into the hedgerow along country lanes. Before Christmas I watched an owner walk through a local urban car park, pick up the poo the dog had just done and leave the bag on the curb around a hedge plot 10mtrs away. There was a bin a little further on which he must have passed. The poo bag stayed there for weeks.

Who do they think is going to clear this up?

Can't they take it home!

R.O.

Alan

A

Of course it's always possible that the vehicle owners have been carted off to hospital and are in no fit state to clear up. As for the police - they used to clear up the debris but there are so few of them now that they are amlost certain to be called away to another incident which is more urgent than clearing up, as long as the road itself is clear.

 

[Pips Dad]

Totally agree with your comments. Take a look at the hedgerows and areas near traffic lights where idiots wind down their windows and throw out just about any type of rubbish or empty their ash tray s whilst waiting at the lights.
Im afraid we seem to be surrounded by morons who do this type of thing on a daily basis.

 

[Pips Dad]

Slightly diverting the topic:

I get really p****d off when dog owners carefully pick up their pet's poo in a small black plastic bag, tie a knot in it, and...hang it on a fence!

Have seen this on the beach, on railings along suburban roads and chucked into the hedgerow along country lanes. Before Christmas I watched an owner walk through a local urban car park, pick up the poo the dog had just done and leave the bag on the curb around a hedge plot 10mtrs away. There was a bin a little further on which he must have passed. The poo bag stayed there for weeks.

Who do they think is going to clear this up?

Can't they take it home!

R.O.

Alan

As a dog owner Alan, I agree with your comments and the practice of hanging poo bags on a fence or on a tree branch baffles me. They give responsible dog owners a bad name of course ane I get very angry when I see this done.
Maybe they think the ‘Poo Fairy’ will come along and remove it!
I recently caught someone doing this whilst walking my own dog so I picked up their doggy bag, took it to them, and said, “ I think this is yours!”
They didn’t like it of course, but offered no explanation as to why they had hung it in a tree. Quite bizarre to me.