I’m not a trained negotiator or anything, but couldn’t some inflatable bags be placed under the bridge for his chap threatening to jump?
Also, in order to turn the traffic around, couldn’t sections of the central barrier be dismantled in order for traffic to use the other side■■?
Or a bloody big tarpaulin opened under the bridge then charge in and get him?
I aint having a pop at the guy as mental illness is a serious and misunderstood issue that needs care but more proactive procedures should be in place for this sort of thing.
Drift:
Or a bloody big tarpaulin opened under the bridge then charge in and get him?I aint having a pop at the guy as mental illness is a serious and misunderstood issue that needs care but more proactive procedures should be in place for this sort of thing.
Agreed.
Or just fit safety nets prevention is better than cure?
Well it’s 2354, are those people still stuck in their vehicles since yesterday??
Surely now’s the time to deploy the nets or mattresses on the carriageway, and walk up to the chap and grab him. I do feel for the chap, but surely this could have been resolved by now? I presume the police risk assessment won’t allow any of the above though…
Wheel Nut:
I suggested a sniper.
I suggest our old friend Mr Lai!
I live in Bromsgrove. I was gridlocked for most of the weekend.
My mates dad is a recently retired police officer and he said that West Mercia have a ‘no contact policy’.
So basically they couldn’t touch him and had to sit there and watch him 
Why wasn’t the “double decker” routine used? They have done it before in same situation else where.
There was an incident a few weeks ago on the QE 2 bridge at Dartford where they even closed the river to waterborne traffic, think THAT’S taking it a bit far 
Cruise Control:
Why wasn’t the “double decker” routine used? They have done it before in same situation else where.
What’s that then?
J Vines on now saying some folk were saying “JUMP”!. What they fail to realise is after he jumps the police will still have to measure the width of the road, the height of the bridge and the guy’s inside leg etc etc…it’d still take another 6hrs to open the ■■■■ road.
bazza123:
I’m not a trained negotiator or anything, but couldn’t some inflatable bags be placed under the bridge for his chap threatening to jump?
So who’s going to catch him if he jumps whilst the bags are inflating?
Blimey…
It worked though 
And then he was carted away in the trusty Transit van
del trotter:
bazza123:
I’m not a trained negotiator or anything, but couldn’t some inflatable bags be placed under the bridge for his chap threatening to jump?So who’s going to catch him if he jumps whilst the bags are inflating?
If there wasn’t something inside him wanting to live he would’ve walked up to the barrier and been over the side before anyone could have blinked. Not stood around waiting for the police to come and build him a bouncy castle so that he could jump just before they pumped it up.
10-08:
del trotter:
bazza123:
I’m not a trained negotiator or anything, but couldn’t some inflatable bags be placed under the bridge for his chap threatening to jump?So who’s going to catch him if he jumps whilst the bags are inflating?
If there wasn’t something inside him wanting to live he would’ve walked up to the barrier and been over the side before anyone could have blinked. Not stood around waiting for the police to come and build him a bouncy castle so that he could jump just before they pumped it up.
Lets compare this to a hostage situation. An armed robber has the staff held hostage in a bank, he is armed with a gun threatening to shoot them if the police outside interfere. The robber has probably never shot dead a single person in his life and chances are would lose his nerve if push came to shove, but as the police do you risk that by charging in? No, you negotiate with the guy as he could panic and snap. Same thing applies with bridge jumpers, wheeling out a load of inflatables onto the carriageway could have the same effect as the police charging in on the armed robber.
Given that the guy clearly wasn’t 100% certain about wanting to kill himself, like you said, would it be in anyway fair to potentially force him into doing something he didn’t really want? We have got to have sympathy with these mentally ill people, as inconvienient as the traffic jam might be. Worse thing that happened for the people stuck in it was they got home late or missed an appointment.
Honestly, I think the closure was unavoidable. Only solution going forward is to put anti-jumper railings up on motorway bridges easily accessible to pedestrians. Clearly instances like this can’t become common.
Well there is one way to deal with it
m.youtube.com/watch?v=Nglh-BExEus
No in all seriousness, I think the nets or inflatable bags might work. They could be inflated as a “safety precaution” in case the chap in question accidentally slipped 
Pimpdaddy:
rob22888:
What a completely [zb] ridiculous postWhy is it…
:?::?:
The way to treat mentally ill/disturbed people, or as the poster tastefully described “window lickers”, is not to stick them out of the way in a padded cell. It’s a ridiculous statement devoid of any compassion. ■■■■ could hit the fan in anybodies life, it could be you or one of your close relatives on the wrong side of those railings one day. There is more to life sometimes than keeping a bloody road open so people can get home on time.
No, I wasn’t stuck in the jam, but have been stuck in many long motorway delays in the past and know how frustrating it is. Soon as the front door shut when I got home though, it was forgotten.
Worse thing that happened for the people stuck in it was they got home late or missed an appointment.
It can be more than that, how about anyone on their way to an airport with all the kids etc for a holiday flight?
They could be several hundreds or thousands out of pocket.
I sympathise with the possible suicide but think we need to look at better ways of dealing with these types of problems.
and to those who advocate bullets etc… you should think that one day it could be one of your family in this position.
del949:
I sympathise with the possible suicide but think we need to look at better ways of dealing with these types of problems.
I agree! But apart from installing anti-jump railings in places to stop anything happening in the first place, I can’t think of what other option the police had this weekend.
Make all motorway bridges with canopies and then security fence to prevent anyone climbing round. It’s going to cost but if thus starts to happen regularly it’s got to be cheaper than a whole region gridlocked for 24hrs.
Also I imagine these people when they do this have been crying out for help for a long time, doing this kind of thing is as loud as they can shout before anyone takes notice.