The situation: driving on the M25 and come across debris in the road. Easy
enough for me to avoid it but plenty of potential for an incident.

Should I have stopped and phoned 999 to report this, or is there a better
number to phone (like the Highways Agency)?

I thought at the the time phoning 999 wasn't called for as there wasn't an
accident. Although in hindsight, there was plenty of opportunity for one to
happen.

TBH, I don't even know if the H.A. have a number to call in cases like this
and I find any advice on their website.

So, 999 or H.A.? Advice please...

--
Regards,
Steve

"...which means he created the heaven and the earth... in the DARK! How good
is that?"

Steve wrote in
:

The situation: driving on the M25 and come across debris in the road.
Easy enough for me to avoid it but plenty of potential for an
incident.

Should I have stopped and phoned 999 to report this, or is there a
better number to phone (like the Highways Agency)?

I thought at the the time phoning 999 wasn't called for as there
wasn't an accident. Although in hindsight, there was plenty of
opportunity for one to happen.

TBH, I don't even know if the H.A. have a number to call in cases
like this and I find any advice on their website.

So, 999 or H.A.? Advice please...

I would have phoned 999: you were averting a potential accident. Maybe you
should have stopped at a motorway phone and used that instead to report the
debris. However if the debris had been on a non-motorway road such as a
dual-carriageway you wouldn't have had that option and 999 would have been
the only realistic option. Trying to find out the number of the Highways
Agency on a mobile isn't realistic: I wonder if the directory enquiries
service that you chose would even be able to trace them if you could quote
an address for them? I favour the simplest approach which allows you to do
your duty as a responsible citizen as quickly and as possible so you can
continue your journey.

I always phone 999 if I see debris on the motorway, probably 15-20 times in
the last eight years (as long as I've been doing high motorway miles) I've
never been told off for this
james

On 18/1/06 19:51, in article
, "Martin Underwood"
wrote:

Steve wrote in
:

TBH, I don't even know if the H.A. have a number to call in cases
like this and I find any advice on their website.

Oops ... I *can't* find any advice ... !!!

... Maybe you
should have stopped at a motorway phone and used that instead to report the
debris.

Good point. I've never had to use one of those phones, and I've always
wondered given the amount of traffic on the M25 at 6.00pm whether you'd be
able to hear the person on the other end!

Cheers.

--
Regards,
Steve

"...which means he created the heaven and the earth... in the DARK! How good
is that?"

Steve wrote in
:

On 18/1/06 19:51, in article
, "Martin
Underwood" wrote:

Steve wrote in
:

TBH, I don't even know if the H.A. have a number to call in cases
like this and I find any advice on their website.

Oops ... I *can't* find any advice ... !!!

... Maybe you
should have stopped at a motorway phone and used that instead to
report the debris.

Good point. I've never had to use one of those phones, and I've always
wondered given the amount of traffic on the M25 at 6.00pm whether
you'd be able to hear the person on the other end!

The only time I've used a motorway-style phone was on the Marlow Bypass
(A404 between M40 and M4) to report a car that appeared to have broken down
in Lane 1 at night and had no lights or advance warning triangle. As such,
it was an accident waiting to happen. I had to struggle to hear and to make
myself heard and understood: the operator (as so often when reporting
emergencies) had great difficulty working out where I was referring to, even
though I said something fairly unambiguous like "it's on the southbound
carriageway of the A404, 0.8 miles north of this phone which is 12345".

"Martin Underwood" wrote in message
...
Steve wrote in
:

On 18/1/06 19:51, in article
, "Martin
Underwood" wrote:

Steve wrote in
:

TBH, I don't even know if the H.A. have a number to call in cases
like this and I find any advice on their website.

Oops ... I *can't* find any advice ... !!!

... Maybe you
should have stopped at a motorway phone and used that instead to
report the debris.

Good point. I've never had to use one of those phones, and I've always
wondered given the amount of traffic on the M25 at 6.00pm whether
you'd be able to hear the person on the other end!

The only time I've used a motorway-style phone was on the Marlow Bypass
(A404 between M40 and M4) to report a car that appeared to have broken
down in Lane 1 at night and had no lights or advance warning triangle. As
such, it was an accident waiting to happen. I had to struggle to hear and
to make myself heard and understood: the operator (as so often when
reporting emergencies) had great difficulty working out where I was
referring to, even though I said something fairly unambiguous like "it's
on the southbound carriageway of the A404, 0.8 miles north of this phone
which is 12345".


You'd think that'd be a great place for simple noise-cancelling
technology... it's not that expensive, and could possibly save lives (at a
stretch, I know )

Martin Underwood wrote:

I would have phoned 999: you were averting a potential accident.
Maybe you should have stopped at a motorway phone and used that
instead to report the debris. However if the debris had been on a
non-motorway road such as a dual-carriageway you wouldn't have had
that option and 999 would have been the only realistic option.

I've never understood why we don't have a 'serious but not emergency' number
to call in this country, something like 888 would be logical. I believe that
that idea has been discussed and may be implemented in the future, although
I believe that they are going to use something far less easy to remember,
like 112 or something.

Jack Taylor wrote in
:

Martin Underwood wrote:

I would have phoned 999: you were averting a potential accident.
Maybe you should have stopped at a motorway phone and used that
instead to report the debris. However if the debris had been on a
non-motorway road such as a dual-carriageway you wouldn't have had
that option and 999 would have been the only realistic option.

I've never understood why we don't have a 'serious but not emergency'
number to call in this country, something like 888 would be logical.
I believe that that idea has been discussed and may be implemented in
the future, although I believe that they are going to use something
far less easy to remember, like 112 or something.

Yes I don't understand why there wasn't an 888 set up at the same time as
999. Instead they've only recently started giving police forces 0845 xxxxxx
numbers - but they are not the same throughout teh country so if you're
travelling, you've no idea which numebr to ring.

A few yrs ago I was on the M1 and spotted a wooden broom in the middle of
L1 laying parallel to the lane markings and called 999 because *someone* was
likely to move into L1 and not see it til it was too late - however anyone
who stayed in L1 would have simply drove right over it. Anyway in my mind
it was too dangerous to risk and after calling never heard no more, always
wondered if anyone else did the same and call in that morn.

"Jack Taylor" wrote in message
...
Martin Underwood wrote:

I would have phoned 999: you were averting a potential accident.
Maybe you should have stopped at a motorway phone and used that
instead to report the debris. However if the debris had been on a
non-motorway road such as a dual-carriageway you wouldn't have had
that option and 999 would have been the only realistic option.

I've never understood why we don't have a 'serious but not emergency'
number
to call in this country, something like 888 would be logical. I believe
that
that idea has been discussed and may be implemented in the future,
although
I believe that they are going to use something far less easy to remember,
like 112 or something.

112 is the universal GSM emergency number. I believe it works on all GSM
mobile phones around the world.
For landlines our emergency number is 000, but I believe 911 will sometimes
work (because kids sometimes think that is the number because of America TV
shows)

Peter
Sydney