When anyone talks to you about driving on a motorway, and of the best way in which to complete that task, there is information abound about how you should join at the slip road, how you should leave using a slip road, how to change lane and how you should use good lane discipline.  You will get plenty of information about stopping distances and what the SOS phones are for, but whoever tells you those extraordinary bits, like what you are supposed to do if you have a police car behind you and it is flashing the headlights and the reason that police vehicle is driving at 30mph in lane-3?

Statistically the motorways of the United Kingdom are the safest roads to drive upon, with fewer injuries or deaths being recorded per mile than any other type of British road.  However, for those who work within a motorways environment, the dangers are many and the threat to personal safety is very high.

Whenever there is an incident on a motorway it will always be the job of the police to manage and to coordinate the response to that incident, even if many different emergency services are involved in the overall operation, and this page explains some of the procedures that are carried out, so that should you be in the appropriate place and the wrong time, and so be in the middle of things when it happens, you will at least have a better understanding of what is going on.

This is a very effective procedure that is used to remove objects from the carriageway, close a motorway junction or to perform any task where it is necessary to put human beings onto a motorway carriageway to perform to job of work.  One of the most common uses of the Rolling Block is to remove debris from the carriageway, such as a strip of shredded lorry tyre, and this is how it works.

When a police patrol vehicle is despatched to a location, following a report of an object in the carriageway, this type of incident is regarded as being of an urgent nature, because the presence of a foreign body in a live running lane is likely to disturb the flow of traffic, possibly to the point of causing a driver to swerve and to lose control.  When this happens, and before you know what is happening, there will probably be a collision.  Motorways are very safe for traffic to travel upon, but only when nothing disturbs the flow of that traffic.

When the police unit arrives on scene, the officers will call in by radio to the motorway control centre, and after announcing their arrival, they may well ask for certain motorway signals to be activated, such as a matrix signal to show a speed limit or a lane closure.  This is not a bomb proof method of controlling the traffic, but at least it may have the effect of alerting driver’s to the presence of something that may affect their progress and therefore be more vigilant to what is happening.

Having identified the location of the object, the officer from the passenger seat will get out of the vehicle and then wait at the location whilst his crewmate will reverse the patrol car along the hard shoulder, which could be for a distance of as much as a mile, depending upon traffic flow and volume, to a suitable distance away to commence a Rolling Block.

What the driver of the police vehicle does here is to pick an opportune moment to accelerate along the hard shoulder, with all rearward facing emergency lighting operating, and once up to speed, will move into the outermost lane as quickly as possible.  He or she will then begin to bring the speed of the police car down gradually and whilst keeping all the following traffic behind it.  This is the tricky part, as always there will be the idiot who will want to undertake the police car and continue as normal.  When conducting the Rolling Block it is like herding sheep, because in these initial stages there will be the trickiest moments, and it will be necessary at times to get quite aggressive by swerving across the nose of anyone who is trying to push past, so as to help that driver understand they are not to pass.

The patrol car driver will continue to slow the traffic in this way, and may take the speed down to as low as 20mph, which then allows the vehicles ahead of the convoy to disappear into the distance.  What you end up with is what is known as a sterile area ahead of the police patrol car, and before the very last vehicle that is at the rear of the pack ahead.  As the police vehicle approaches the spot where the debris has been located in the carriageway, the driver will signal to his crewmate, perhaps with a headlamp flash, to say that it is clear to remove the object.  The officer standing on the hard shoulder will then walk into the carriageway, collect the offending object, before returning toe safety of the hard shoulder.  Here he is joined by the patrol car and the traffic that was being convoyed is allowed to run free.

If you are driving on a motorway, and you see a police patrol car ahead of you pull out to the outer most lane and begin slowing the traffic, don’t try and push past.  This is likely to get you into very hot water.  On the other hand, if you have just passed a patrol car that was on the hard shoulder, and it then swoops out to the outer lane behind you, don’t slow down, but keep going, because what the officer perhaps wants is for all the vehicles ahead of his or her vehicle to get away as quickly as possible so as to create the required sterile area.

Sometimes, when performing a Rolling Block, particularly where there is little distance to keep the traffic moving , it may be necessary to being the convoy to a stop.  This is a perfectly normal procedure, so don’t worry.  Stay in your lane and drive smoothly and gently so as not to disrupt the movement of the traffic any more than has already happened and stop a good car length back from the vehicle ahead.

Apart from being used to help the removal of debris, the Rolling Block may be used to give Highways contractors enough dead space and time to put in a lane closure, a junction closure or perhaps for a recovery agent to pull a vehicle across the lanes to the hard shoulder.  Whatever the reason, the Rolling Block is done for a good reason, and that reason is safety, because when people are on foot in the carriageway, their personal safety is of paramount importance.

It may well be that when driving on a motorway you will be required to stop by a mobile police patrol.  If this is the case, don’t automatically assume it is being done because you are about to be accused of an offence.  Reasons for asking you to stop are many, and it may be that the officers have noticed you have a tyre that is deflating, this being a potential killer, or that your exhaust system is about to fall off.  There can be a number of reasons, but be assured that if you are being asked to stop there is a very good reason as to why.

From a police patrol point of view, asking a driver to pull over and stop on a motorway is an extremely hazardous operation, mainly because the officers have no idea what they are dealing with in terms of the predictability of the subject concerned.  The procedure, therefore, has to be very carefully managed so as to preserve the highest degree of safety, not only for the driver being required to stop, but for all those other road users in the vicinity, not to mention the officers themselves.  If it is you who is being asked to stop there is much you can do to make this a safe process.  After all, you have a duty of care as a driver as much as the officers have when managing the situation.

In almost every case the motorway patrol officers will want you to stop on the hard shoulder, and with your vehicle ahead of theirs.  What should happen is the police vehicle will move into position behind you, match your speed and then give two or three long flashes of the headlights whilst the blue roof lamps are flashing.  Accompanying this you should see that the police vehicle is showing a left-hand indicator, and what the police driver is doing here is asking you to pull over to the hard shoulder and stop.

DO NOT stop in your lane.  DO NOT abruptly pull onto the hard shoulder and brake hard to a stop, as this is a manoeuvre that needs to be performed gently and with care.  The best procedure is to firstly acknowledge the request made by the officers, and this is best done by raising your left hand up to the height of your internal rear view mirror for a couple of seconds, and then switch on a left-hand indicator.  If it is safe and clear, steer gently onto the hard shoulder as if changing lane on the carriageway and DO NOT brake until the whole of your vehicle is within the confines of the hard shoulder.  Now apply gentle braking until the car comes to a stop.

The police officers should check that is its safe for you to enter the hard shoulder before carrying out their request for you to stop, so as to be sure it is clear of any vehicles or other obstruction, but it is always best to have a good look for yourself too.

It may be that the request made for you to stop is not completed whilst you are in Lane-1, but when you are in one of the others.  The procedure should be the same, except you will need to move lanes, one at a time, over to the left until you are on the hard shoulder.  DO NOT reduce speed in the running lanes, as this may confuse other drivers and you could find you get vehicles overhauling you on your inside.  Keep your speed constant and steady until you are in a position to begin your stop.

Once stopped remain seated in your car, but watch the occupants of the police vehicle closely by use of your rear view mirrors, as it may be that you need to follow a gesture made by one or both of the officers.  If they are following correct procedures, the officer from the passenger side of the patrol car will approach your vehicle on foot and come to your passenger side front door.  This is done so that he or she is not speaking to you whilst next to a live carriageway.

If the reason for the stop is a very simple and quick one, the officer may be able to say all that he needs to whilst crouching at your open passenger door, or by speaking to you through your open nearside window.  Remember to speak clearly and loudly, as the environment outside your car will be extremely noisy.  If there is a more involve reason for the stop, you may be invited back to the patrol car, perhaps to examine a reading on a speed-measuring device, for example.  Always follow instructions as directed, as these will be given for your own safety.

Although you did not ask to be stopped, you still have some responsibility for your own safety, so make sure that if you are to get out of your car, and before you open your driver’s door, that it is safe to do so. This may seem an obvious statement to make, but you need to be aware that if an articulated goods vehicle or tour coach passes you at the precise moment you open your door, the back draught caused by the passing of this vehicle may well be sufficient to snatch your door from your hand and to fold it flat against your front wing.  If this happens as you are getting out, that draught can be enough to take you off your feet.  Wait for a suitable gap in the traffic, but if you are not happy with the situation, climb across the front of your car and get out through the passenger side. When returning to your vehicle, remember the same information for getting back in.

To move off from the hard shoulder effectively and safely you need to use it as an acceleration lane.  The officers should explain this to you, but it means you should build up your speed along the hard shoulder until you have matched that of the traffic in lane-one.  When covering a suitable gap in the traffic, give a good clear indicator signal to the right before moving gently into the space.  This should always be the procedure for rejoining a main carriageway from the hard shoulder.

During their every day duties, police motorway patrols and highways agency patrols will often need to cone off a motorway lane, and apart from the obvious, such as there having been a collision, the most regular lane closure is completed to protect a tyre fitter whilst an off-side wheel change is completed on a truck or other vehicle.  When this happens it will be Lane-1 that is coned off, and should you encounter this on your travels, it is a good idea for you to know how this is done so that you understand what is happening.

Firstly the motorway matrix signals will be set with a temporary speed limit, and then nearer to the scene, a matrix signal will be set to indicate which lane is closed.  The highways agency patrol, or police motorway patrol vehicle, will be positioned on the hard shoulder to the rear of whatever it is that needs the lane closure put in place for.  Whoever is putting out the cones will do so by walking backwards, whilst facing the approaching traffic, and by starting with the first cone, which is placed on the white line that divides the hard shoulder from Lane-1.  More cones are placed out, one by one in a taper, this being a line of cones set at a gentle angle across the lane, so as to cause the approaching traffic to move over to Lane-2.

Once the cone taper is on place the patrol vehicle is moved into Lane-1 and in a stationary position with all rearward emergency lighting in operation, so as to offer some protection for the officers placing out the remaining cones.  The emergency vehicle will remain in place in that lane whilst the incident is being dealt with and during the removal process of the cones; again offering the officers and anyone else working in that lane some protection.

Where circumstances dictate, it may be that it is necessary to use a Rolling Block to get the lane closure set up, and/or to remove it.

It may of course be that there has been a collision, or the lane has being closed due a vehicle on fire, but whatever the reason three will be a good reason and the measures that are taken will be with the safety of the motoring public as a priority.

It seems to be a fact of life there will at some stage be a collision between vehicles on a motorway, and sometimes when this happens, disabled vehicles will be stuck in the carriageway.  It shouldn’t take long for the police or highways agency patrol to arrive, and one of the first things that will happen is that an assessment will be made as to whether any of the vehicles involved can be moved to the hard shoulder.  However, if that is not possible a recovery agent will be called out, but in the meantime, the emergency services in attendance will need to do their best to keep the traffic moving.  If that means closing lanes for your safety then that is just one of those awkward facts of life that we have to endure and everyone is going to have to be patient.  However, what can be avoided is the follow-up collision on the opposite carriageway, which often occurs when people start rubbernecking, which is a terms used to describe the act of trying to see what is going on over the centre barrier.  This causes the bunching of traffic, inattention and then a collision.

A collision on one carriageway should not affect the flow of traffic on the other, but it does.  We said earlier that motorways traffic copes very well whilst everything is free flowing, and that incidents only start to happen when something disrupts that flow.  A collision on one carriageway is disruptive influence to the other, but only because people want to slow down and have a look.

If you have witnessed the collision, or seen the vehicles involved driving along prior to the collision, make sure you provide your name and address, as you could provide vital information after the event that will assist in the investigation.

Do not get involved in the scene, especially if there are trucks involved.  The reason for this is that you will not have a clue what it is they are carrying, and if there are hazardous substances involved, contact with a spillage, or the breathing of fumes, can be fatal.  Stay in your car and keep out of the way, as by putting yourself at risk you just become one more casualty the emergency services end up having to deal with.

Should you be unfortunate enough to be involved in the collision your self; here are some words of advice.

If your car comes to rest in lane-1, and you are not too badly injured, try to get it to the hard shoulder.  If the engine has stalled, and won’t re-start, those cars with a manual gearbox can be moved by putting the gear lever into first gear and then cranking the engine over on the starter.  If the car will not move, then you are just going to have to leave it where it is.

Still in lane-1, and not being able to shift the car to the hard shoulder, you are best to get out if you can, and to do so by climbing over to the passenger side.  Once out of the vehicle, wherever possible, get over onto the verge and preferably behind a barrier so as to be away from the main carriageway.  In this case, and any other where you are going to get out of your vehicle, LEAVE THE IGNITION KEY IN THE INGITION LOCK.  If the police or highways agency patrol that attends have your keys it may be they are able to shift your car out of the carriageway, whereas without the keys, and with the steering lock on, the choices become far more limited.  Once you have left it, DO NOT go back to your car, but remain within sight of it in case you are presence is required by the emergency services.

Report the incident to the motorway control room as soon as you can, either by use of a motorway SOS phone, or by your mobile.  Remember to use the marker post information to identify your location when you do this, although a call from an SOS phone will give your location automatically.

If you become stuck in the outside lane, if you can, get out and stand next to the central barrier a few yards ahead of the car.  NEVER try to run or walk across the lanes until directed to do so by a member of the emergency services and NEVER cross the barrier to the other carriageway.  By standing away from the vehicle in this manner you can use it as a buffer-barrier so that it offers you some protection from the approaching traffic.

If you come to rest in one of the centre lanes, you have a difficult decision to make, as you will have to complete a swift dynamic risk assessment.  If you have several vehicles all stopped behind you, and the integrity of the passenger cell of your car is still relatively intact, you may be better to remain in the vehicle, as the structure will offer you some protection, as will the stationary vehicles to your rear.  However, it may be a good idea just to check that you can open a door so as to be able to get out should you need to in a hurry, such as if there is a fire, and you can get your seatbelt off.

If you are stranded in one of the centre lanes, and your vehicle is unprotected by others to the rear, this may be an occasion where it will be prudent to get out and make for the hard shoulder (leaving your keys behind), but be careful.  Hopefully, because of the collision, the unaffected traffic will have slowed, but be aware that vehicles cover a lot of ground in a short time on this type of road and the average driver is only looking 30-yards ahead of their bonnet.

With regard to vehicle fires, it seems that we have become very used to seeing car fires in films, especially ones that show a car chase, where every time it seems a vehicle hits something it bursts into flames.  You will note that on these films the car does not just catch fire, it explodes into a fireball, but this is all done for dramatic effect and will have been engineered by the film company special effects department.

When you have a crash for the first time the chances are that your mind will immediately replay one of these scenes, as if you have a DVD player in your head.  The reality is that crash for crash, vehicle fires do not happen very often, and always remember that under your bonnet you have a lot of water in your cooling system, which is pretty much at boiling point.  When a coolant hose or pipe becomes ruptured, and these are quite delicate, that hot coolant will produce clouds of steam, especially when it spills onto a hot exhaust system.  This can make you think the car is on fire, but try not to panic, because the chances are you will be looking at a cloud of water vapour and not smoke.




In this age of the mobile phone, and the fact that just about everyone has one, the poor motorway control room operator has a very difficult time when it comes to people reporting collisions or other motorway emergencies by use of their mobile phone.  Why?  Well it is because people will try to report a crash or a vehicle fire and do not have a clue where they are.  This can waste valuable time and often results in emergency service vehicles being sent to the wrong location.  So how do you know where you are?

Firstly you should know what motorway you are on, so that is a help to start with, and you should know the direction in which you are headed – also a help, but the best way to pin-point your exact location is to use the information on the nearest marker post.  Marker posts on a motorway are positioned every 100-metres next to the hard shoulder edge and on the verge.  They are those white, blue and red things, and if you look at one closely you will see that it has a number on it.  The number on that post is unique to the location of that post, so in the case of the example in the photo opposite, if you told the telephone operator that you were on the M40 motorway, travelling northbound, and at marker post seventy-three over one, you will have given the precise location of where you were calling from.

If you have witnessed the collision, or seen the vehicles involved driving along prior to the collision, make sure you provide your name and address, as you could provide vital information after the event that will assist in the investigation.

Do not get involved in the scene, especially if there are trucks involved.  The reason for this is that you will not have a clue what it is they are carrying, and if there are hazardous substances involved, contact with a spillage, or the breathing of fumes, can be fatal.  Stay in your car and keep out of the way, as by putting yourself at risk you just become one more casualty the emergency services end up having to deal with.

If you ever break down on motorway, apart from the personal safety issues involved, there are certain facts that you need to be aware of in terms of the police enforcement of the relevant motorway regulations and how you are best to deal with the situation.

Should your breakdown occur during the hours of darkness, and on an unlit section of motorway, providing your lighting equipment is in good working order you have up to 2-hours to get the problem sorted and be on your way.  However, if your lighting equipment fails then your vehicle needs to be removed immediately.  This will be robustly enforced, and of you don’t arrange to have the car removed within the time period yourself, the police will do it for you – whether you want them to or not.

During daylight hours you have 2-hours to get sorted out.  Any more than that and you will have to get your vehicle removed, or it will be removed, whether you like it or not.  However, if there are aggravating circumstances, such as adverse weather conditions, or your vehicle is in a precarious position, such as it is causing an unacceptable level of risk, then you may be required to arrange immediate removal.

The time limit conditions obviously apply only if your vehicle is as safe as possible on the hard shoulder, but if it were the case that you came to a stop in a running lane, or central reservation, then an immediate removal will be the order of the day.  Vehicles involved in collisions will also be removed straight away, although if the damage is of a minor nature, and you are able to remain with the car, and with that car in a safe position on the hard shoulder, there is no reason why it cannot be regarded as a breakdown case and so be subject to that set of rules.  The explanation above is given with the assumption that your vehicle is positioned appropriately within the boundaries of the hard shoulder and there are no other aggravating factors involved in each of the examples given.

If the police arrange to have your vehicle removed from the motorway, and they can quite legally do this even if you are not there, a police approved recovery agent will be called out to deal with it.  These companies, to get onto the police call-out list, have to meet certain criteria, and the rules are quite strict.  Factors such as their availability to the motorway, travelling/response time, level of equipment, the condition of that equipment, are all matters that are looked into when considering an application for the role. Other conditions will be to do with the safe storage of vehicle’s, the ability to recover damaged or burned out vehicles, as well as to provide undercover storage for cases where forensic examinations may be required by police or Department for Transport examiners.  Basically they have to be a quality outfit, or they do not get on the rota.

Another factor that is controlled by regulation of these services is the price they charge you for removing your car from the motorway.  This is a set price and the recovery companies are not allowed to charge anything different.  Depending upon the administration in the area in which you have the misfortune to breakdown or have a collision, it may be that your invoice for vehicle recovery will be issued by the police force for that area.

The best practise here is that if you do break down on the motorway, and even if you contact your own breakdown service or other help by use of your mobile phone, make sure you tell the motorway control room what is going on.  Communication is the key to a more successful outcome, and if you are seen to be helpful in providing information concerning your plans and situation you will find the control room staff, in most cases, will try to help you as much as possible.  The best way to make this contact is via a motorway SOS phone, as not only will you speak directly to the control room that covers that area, but this will also identify your precise location.  To locate the nearest phone look at the numbered marker posts that appear every 100-metres along the edge of the hard shoulder and you will see that on the narrow edge of the post, the edge that faces the carriageway, there will be a symbol representing a telephone handset.  Under this there will be an arrow, and this indicates the direction of the nearest SOS phone.

Whilst it is not unlawful for you to leave your broken down vehicle for a short while, perhaps whilst you go off for a can of fuel, it is always good to remember that in this day and age of high-security alerts, these being associated with acts of terrorism, a vehicle left unattended under a motorway over bridge, or next to some important installation, may make the authorities somewhat uncomfortable, especially where you have not told anyone what is going on.  You could inadvertently spark off a security alert.




This used to be a task that was performed solely by police patrols, but these days it can be done by highways agency patrols or even private contractors.  However, if the size of the load being moved is exceptionally big, it may still fall to the police patrol to carry out the escort.

An abnormal load will be classed as abnormal through the exceptional weight, height, width or length of the vehicle and its cargo.  Long or heavy loads tend to only cause disruption through their very slow travelling speed, but a wide load may be both slow and hazardous in terms of how much lateral room it requires when making its way along the road.

Where a wide load takes up more than one lane in width the driver should be instructed by the police officers escorting not to overhang the hard shoulder, but to straddle lanes one and two.  The reason for this is that when overhanging the hard shoulder, if there is an obstruction in that lane, say a broken down truck, the escorted vehicle will have to swing out to get by, and that is not a situation you want when everyone is pressing to get passed this thing that is holding up the traffic.

Typically the police escort vehicle will follow the escorted vehicle, and where two lanes are being used, the escort vehicle will occupy Lane-2.  It will also remain close enough to discourage other traffic from getting between escort vehicle and escorted load, but far enough back to provide advanced warning to drivers approaching from behind and for the abnormal load driver to be able to see the escort vehicle, as well as any signal that driver may wish to make.

On some thee-lane motorways, and where there is a junction, it may occur that the main carriageway is reduced to two-lanes through the junction as Lane-1 becomes the slip road off, and the slip road on again at the other side.  Where this happens the abnormal load may have to consume the whole available width of road for that section and following driver’s will just have to be patient. In order to be prepared for the loss of Lane-1 the wide vehicle will have to get into position early and so block off lanes two and three prior to the junction.  This move will be assisted by the escort vehicle as it will move into position first to cover the lane.  Don’t try and be clever and squeeze through the closing gap, because if you misjudge it, you are going to lose.

Hopefully this page will have given you an insight into some of the procedures that take place on the motorway and why some of them are carried out in the way they are.  Having a better understanding of what is going on will mean that you will be better equipped to help deal with the situation.  After all, the things that will be happening are all being done to help keep you and those around you safe in what can very quickly develop into a very hostile environment.