Traffic Officers Help Mum and Baby
by Patricia Montgomery, LincsMag Writer.
Date: 09 December 2011
Highways Agency Traffic Officers have been praised as 'wonderful' after helping a young mum and her baby from the cold and dark of a motorway hard shoulder last month.
Traffic Officers Gary Reece and Martin Costello, based at the Rob Lane Outstation at Newton-le-Willows in Merseyside, were clearing the scene of an incident along the eastbound M62 near Birchwood when they spotted driver Collette Leyland's car in the hard shoulder.
After going across to the vehicle to issue some routine safety advice they discovered distressed Collette and her baby daughter Sarah, just nine months, in the car.
After reassuring Collette and assessing the safety situation, Gary of Skelmersdale and Martin of Ashton-in-Makerfield, decided to get mother and baby off the motorway straight away.
A Big Thank You
Now Collette, who is from Todmorden in West Yorkshire, has written to Martin and Gary's bosses at the North West Regional Control Centre, headquarters of the region's Traffic Officer Service, to say a big thank you.
Collette is originally from Warrington and had been heading back to West Yorkshire after visiting her parents at Fearnhead, when the lights on her car failed.
She said, "My worst fear of driving is breaking down on the motorway, and even more so if it were to happen in the dark but that's exactly what happened to me when the lights failed on my new car. After pulling over into the hard shoulder and calling my husband I became quite upset and frightened about the situation I was in stranded on the motorway and obviously concerned for myself and my baby Sarah.
"Traffic Officers Gary and Martin attended to see what was wrong and were instantly very reassuring and very helpful and I am extremely grateful for the assistance that they gave to me. I know they could have left me there to await recovery but no, they escorted me just off the motorway to a place where I could meet my mother and enable myself and my baby to feel safe again.
"I just want to express my heartfelt gratitude for them helping to resolve what could have turned out to be a very traumatic experience - what a wonderful job these officers do, I and my husband were very grateful that they took such great care of myself and our baby."
To A Place Of Safety
Gary said, "It was about 7.30pm and already very dark and Collette’s car was in an unlit section of the hard shoulder about 200 yards behind the scene of an accident we were clearing so we went to check that everything was in order. When we got there it was clear that she was distressed and we agreed the best course of action was to get her and the baby away from the scene and to a place of safety in a well-lit area off the motorway so she could await assistance without fear or danger."
John McTaggart, head of on road operations for the Highways Agency Traffic Officer Service in the North of England, said while Traffic Officers did not provide a rescue service they always make an assessment of conditions surrounding a break down or accident and in this case made a judgement to escort Collette and baby Sarah off the motorway to safety.
He said, "Collette and Sarah were in a very vulnerable situation and while it is always rewarding to get such feedback from customers I am sure that Gary and Martin would say they were just doing their jobs."
Be Prepared In The Event of Breaking Down
Mr McTaggart said the incident was a timely opportunity to remind drivers to be prepared in the event of breaking down, especially on cold, dark winter evenings.
He said, "Always carry extra clothing, ensure you have breakdown recovery cover in place and if you are ever stranded in the hard shoulder put on your hazard warning lights use, one of the emergency roadside telephones in the same hard shoulder to ring us and call for help - and then, if possible, stand well away from your vehicle in the verge behind the safety barrier until help arrives."
See our article ... Winter Motoring Checklist and section Motoring in Bad Weather.
