That’s identified, not removed from harm’s way and 20 seconds is too long when there’s an HGV right behind you.
To get a traffic officer/recovery vehicle out to a stranded driver is still taking on average 17 MINUTES!
20 seconds is also extremely unlikely because even IF MIDAS does work (it doesn’t often, in most situations) that does not set the gantry, it sends an alarm to a control room operator, who, while doing 30 other tasks, then has to verify the obstruction with either a (working?) camera or sending a traffic officer to the scene, BEFORE they can close that lane. VERY, VERY unlikely that that will take “20 seconds”
It took 6+ minutes when my husband, Alexandru, both their vehicles, a HGV and the contents of all 3 vehicles were already spread across ALL 4 lanes of the motorway.
stopping every. single, vehicle.
and now National Highways has entered into “partnerships” with some organisations that are meant to be protecting recovery operators. The motorist is charged an EXTRA premium (payable roadside, on top of whatever cover they may already have) because of the extreme hazard (that N.H created) to get motorist somewhere that their recovery organisation will collect them from.
You can bet the recovery driver sent into the “extreme hazard” doesn’t get much of that fee going from N.H to the “organisation representing the recovery industry”!
This is why smart motorways still exist, when the public doesn’t want them.
The quangos, the “funding agreements” the kick backs, the large private contracts, the titles and the MBE’s. i.e. people taking for themselves and #### those killed.