Highways Agency

• Traffic Incident Management Bulletin

November 2007

The majority of road traffic collisions which result in delays on the Highways Agency network require some form of attendance by a Vehicle Recovery Operator (VRO). The recovery operation can be time consuming and therefore the TIM team embarked on a 'quick-win' project to ensure it was carried out as quickly and efficiently as possible. Initially an aide memoir and linked pro-forma was produced and issued to the Traffic Officer Service. The latest step is an educational DVD entitled "Vehicle Recovery Here & Now" to help those on scene provide the VROs with the information they need.

Why produce the DVD?

Primarily the DVD has been developed to highlight to those on scene what the VROs need to know to enable a fast and efficient vehicle recovery. Delayed incident clearances have been noted at debriefs due to VROs not bringing everything they need to scene. Upon further investigation it has become apparent that this is often down to incomplete information being passed to them from the scene. The DVD aims to combat this by building on the knowledge of those providing information about the vehicles to be recovered.

Mark McAllister of McAllisters Recovery stated:

"If the information that we get from scene is accurate this will mean that the correct recovery vehicle & equipment is sent, ensuring that the incident is dealt with as effectively and quickly as possible. Most delays in recovering an incident are due to us not getting the right information. As our vehicles are designed with specific jobs in mind, sending the wrong kit is both costly and time consuming."

The DVD release ties in well to last month's debrief good practice article where we stated "It is important that the correct people are invited to the cold debrief, ideally those that dealt with the incident."

The TIM team is aware that VRO attendance can be advantageous at cold debriefs. It may not be applicable for every debrief but where there has been a major recovery operation it should be considered. 

This DVD follows up on the work outlined in the August 2007 TIM Bulletin on the National Vehicle Recovery Project. The article also highlighted the existence of the Recovery aide-memoir (896KB PDF).

STOP PRESS: The TIM Team are getting more Recovery Aide-Memoirs printed now so that it can be made available to the Highways Agency's Service Providers and other interested parties. Contact TIMbulletin@highways.gsi.gov.uk if your organisation could benefit from these.

Content

The DVD builds upon current knowledge so that vehicle recovery work progresses smoothly. VROs will always make the decision about how to recover the vehicle, but those on scene can play an important role in getting this done efficiently.

The various vehicle types encountered on the road network are set out during the 10 minute DVD. Typical considerations are provided such as the state of the load, access to the vehicle and associated hazards. Finally, details of what the VROs need to know to ensure they bring the right equipment to scene first time are given.

It is based on footage from a live training exercise at Throckmorton and also uses computer graphics to illustrate the points.

Distribution

The DVD is initially being sent out to each RCC and Traffic Officer Outstation to be briefed to all staff. As the DVD is Traffic Officer Service focussed no plans have been drawn up to date to circulate it more widely. If you feel that your organisation could benefit from the DVD then please email TIMBulletin@highways.gsi.gov.uk for a copy.

Has this article been worthwhile reading? Why not take a moment to send us your comments, thoughts or questions. Please e-mail TIMbulletin@highways.gsi.gov.uk