I parked up the other morning at 4am at Hilton Park Motorway services, around 45mins after i got up a Highways jeep towed a Bulgarian 12 seater minibus into the truck park, collected his rope then off he went.
The jobsworth parking attendant walked over to him around 30 mins later and told him that he would have to move, the guy in the minibus didnt speak English, so i jumped out of my cab and told the jobsworth that the van was towed in by the Highways jeep, he said i dont care how he got here he will have to move over to the coach park, i told him again that the minibus had broken down, the driver even went and got his towrope out to show him, but the parking attendant ended up after 2 hours putting a ticket on his window cos he wasnt parked in the proper parking area. The thing is the driver didnt have any say where he was going to park due to getting dumped in the truck park by one of your colleagues.
Question is, was he right to just dump the minibus in the truck park, thus ending up with the driver getting a big fine for parking in the wrong area, when he could have paid the coach parking cost and had 24hrs to sort his problem out??
Typical pinky an perky, got the tackle and the uniform but not the brains, why “dump” a mini coach on the truck park. And another point, the Police dont tow anyone off the motorway nowdays due to claims for damage and hse rules etc wether it be hard shoulder or lane 3 so what the hell was a highways agency driver doing that for, leaves himself and the agency to major claims re damage during towing etc plus they should leave it to the breakdown lads.and they should pick up the ticket cos it was their fault for dumping him there.
i saw a H.A. vehicle towing a car off the motorway the other day (can’t remember where 
)
he was using what looked like a load restraint strap
if the car has got servo brakes (prob about 99% of cars on road have) they would only work correctly when engine is on.
make a mess of the front of the car when it hits a big Toyota 4x4 
Could be wrong but I’m sure i read some where that if you break down on the motorway you have 30 mins for your your breakdown people to respond. If they don’t get to you in that time the police/highways people will remove you themselves.
A lot of people are killed on the hard soulder. I think that the risk of towing is far less than leaving it on the motorway waiting to be shunted up the arse. Especially as its a minibus full of people.
gezt:
Typical pinky an perky, got the tackle and the uniform but not the brains, why “dump” a mini coach on the truck park. and they should pick up the ticket cos it was their fault for dumping him there.
Thats basically the point i was making, H.A bloke was probably laughing to himself knowing that the minibus driver couldnt speak English and would get a fine for being in the wrong place. 
The minibus was empty by the way.
madtrucker:
Could be wrong but I’m sure i read some where that if you break down on the motorway you have 30 mins for your your breakdown people to respond. If they don’t get to you in that time the police/highways people will remove you themselves.A lot of people are killed on the hard soulder. I think that the risk of towing is far less than leaving it on the motorway waiting to be shunted up the arse. Especially as its a minibus full of people.
I think it’s slightly longer than 30 mins about 1hr/1hr30.
What they mean when they will move you their selves is that they call out their approved breakdown which costs you lots of money.
I’m afraid I can’t comment on the actions of my colleagues down south as I don’t know the full circumstances of the incident. The vehicle may have broken down in live lane and was being removed to a place of safety, which for the un-informed is as it says on the tin. If the vehicle broke down near to the services it’s safer to put the vehicle there away from the network. As for the amount of time you can spend on the hardshoulder, it depends on what force area you are in. In our neck of the woods broken down vehicles have 2 hours to either arrange recovery by means of reputable recovery firm or by friends/family. If the vehicle is still there after 2 hours, it is removed under police powers under the rota garage scheme. If the vehicle was on the hard shoulder we will not tow as a matter of course because, A. Unless it is in a dangerous position, It is not our job and some of the younger traffic officers do not have the towing entitlement on their licences and B. We will not take jobs off the recovery guys who get paid to do it. If you do not have the full details of the incident, I think is a bit unfair to jump to conclusions and slag us all off. The good lads and lasses on this site get called all manner of names by members of the public who don’t know any better, so I think it only fair not to pass judgement until full details are known 
Co-incidently regarding the ticket for “parking in the wrong place” speaking as a former traffic warden I feel that the driver would not have been given a ticket for his “misdemeanor” and if he has been, he should get someone to “challenge” the ticket as I feel that he has a good case to get the PCN recinded. 
madtrucker:
A lot of people are killed on the hard soulder. I think that the risk of towing is far less than leaving it on the motorway waiting to be shunted up the arse. Especially as its a minibus full of people.
are you not advised now not to wait in your vehicle but on the embankment behind the safety barriers? i know where i would be sitting. its bad enough being in a wagon at teh side of a busy motorway trying to get it started let alone a car! i would have everyone and the dog out the car and on the embankment (via the passenger side doors) as soon as the car stopped. it just takes on lapse in concentration for a second and thats the whole family gone! 
i must cheer up a bit
Giblsa:
are you not advised now not to wait in your vehicle but on the embankment behind the safety barriers? i know where i would be sitting. its bad enough being in a wagon at teh side of a busy motorway trying to get it started let alone a car! i would have everyone and the dog out the car and on the embankment (via the passenger side doors) as soon as the car stopped. it just takes on lapse in concentration for a second and thats the whole family gone!i must cheer up a bit
The safety advice we all give to anyone on the hardshoulder is to get out of the vehicle on the nearside, if there’s a crash barrier, stand over it. If there’s a grass verge, get up it as far as you can away from your vehicle. We provide rain capes and foil blankets in case of inclement weather However we advise to leave the dog in the vehicle just in case it slips its leash and causes havoc on the network 
The Highway Man:
However we advise to leave the dog in the vehicle just in case it slips its leash and causes havoc on the network
my dog woud be sat with me on the embankment. i dont care what anybody says, he’s a member of my family and he will sit there as long as i tell him to! there is no way im leaving him in the car with all the foreign lorries ploughing into things!
Giblsa:
The Highway Man:
However we advise to leave the dog in the vehicle just in case it slips its leash and causes havoc on the networkmy dog woud be sat with me on the embankment. i dont care what anybody says, he’s a member of my family and he will sit there as long as i tell him to! there is no way im leaving him in the car with all the foreign lorries ploughing into things!
Me too , though THM is quite right on the official front
Re service areas, again without knowing the circumstances it is a little difficult.
It could be that the TO’s were lax in not making the MSA management or the parking attendant in particular aware, or it could just be that the attendant was on a bonus
But I will tell you this, at my local service’s there are no charges or fines for anyone broken down, with a defective vehicle or having to serve a driving hours restriction that have been placed there by VOSA, the police or us.
even if some of them do deserve it.
I saw a car being towed last week onto the NB Northampton services, it seems to make a lot of sense when a broken down car on a hard shoulder can cause 2 mile tailbacks because of rubberneckers looking for blood. It happens all the time abroad, if the driver doesnt feel confident, then another patrolman will jump in to steer it
Today there was a car that looked like it’s driver was being nicked for some misdemeanor or other and there must have been a queue of 3 miles to see what?
A police car and a rep late for an appointment 
Wheel Nut:
IToday there was a car that looked like it’s driver was being nicked for some misdemeanor or other and there must have been a queue of 3 miles to see what?A police car and a rep late for an appointment
Well they will have to do without Jeremy Kyle for some period of time so what else have they got to stare at 
i agrre that in most cases they should tow the vehicle off if its safe to do so ,this would stop the long queues but there has to be a law bought in that covers both the agency/police driver and the agency/police serviceagainst any claims whilst doing so,
Ben9:
madtrucker:
Could be wrong but I’m sure i read some where that if you break down on the motorway you have 30 mins for your your breakdown people to respond. If they don’t get to you in that time the police/highways people will remove you themselves.A lot of people are killed on the hard soulder. I think that the risk of towing is far less than leaving it on the motorway waiting to be shunted up the arse. Especially as its a minibus full of people.
I think it’s slightly longer than 30 mins about 1hr/1hr30.
What they mean when they will move you their selves is that they call out their approved breakdown which costs you lots of money.
It is 30 mins on the hard shoulder before the police will then request an authorised recovery agent to come and collect you and charge you £105 for the service. they will however give you some leeway if your recovery is on its way providing you are not causing obstruction or danger
gezt:
i agrre that in most cases they should tow the vehicle off if its safe to do so ,this would stop the long queues but there has to be a law bought in that covers both the agency/police driver and the agency/police serviceagainst any claims whilst doing so,
Both the police and ourselves are covered under crown indemnity to move the vehicle if the circumstances warrant it.
I saw a Police Range Rover pulling an Artic on the M6 a couple of months back!!!
bikemonkey:
I saw a Police Range Rover pulling an Artic on the M6 a couple of months back!!!
Our cars are capable of doing it as well. If it breaks down in a live lane how do you think we clear the lane
The Highway Man:
bikemonkey:
I saw a Police Range Rover pulling an Artic on the M6 a couple of months back!!!Our cars are capable of doing it as well. If it breaks down in a live lane how do you think we clear the lane
I’m sure the driver limped it over, As long as it ain’t on camera, , or the camera 'oppa can’t see due to a gantry being in the way or temporarily defective , we’d be sacked as the towrope is rated 3.5 tonnes, and yup a disco and towrope can pull 44 tonne , makes your ■■■ twitch though cos if it goes ■■■■ up expect a P60
The Highway Man:
The safety advice we all give to anyone on the hardshoulder is to get out of the vehicle on the nearside, if there’s a crash barrier, stand over it. If there’s a grass verge, get up it as far as you can away from your vehicle.
THINK! Know what to do if you break down. (PIF)