Cumbria Road Hazard Alert System

Gizmo

Gizmo

Forum Geek
I've recently been involved in a discussion with Kevin from Cumbria Speed Camera team on ways to reduce bike accidents in Cumbria and part of the outcome has been that they have added a mobile phone number so you can send Kevin MMS photos of problems you see on the roads in Cumbria, things like overgrown foliage, hidden signage, chewed up road surfaces etc. Send the photo first followed by a text with info on the exact location, and if some wag wants to send him pix of body parts with inserted toothbrushes or whatever the latest wheeze is, remember he has your number :)

The number is 07929543282

Cumbria is sanding and gritting roads and some roads are breaking up badly so its worth contacting him if you do spot problems, he'll do his best to pass them to the relevant department and try and sort them.
 
will he accept photos of knobheads on gixxers riding like @@@@s, or 4x4's emerging from side roads, or grannies pulling out without indicators, or cow @@@@, or numpties reversing from driveways, or tractors spewing hay or slurry all over the carriageway or any other real hazards! sorry, this seems like a whitewash type exercise!
 
rockjock620 said:
will he accept photos of knobheads on gixxers riding like @@@@s, or 4x4's emerging from side roads, or grannies pulling out without indicators, or cow @@@@, or numpties reversing from driveways, or tractors spewing hay or slurry all over the carriageway or any other real hazards! sorry, this seems like a whitewash type exercise!
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That one was one of my suggestions when the subject of the state of the roads, obscured signs etc was mentioned in the discussion, we all know there are roads out there that need repair but no-one knew who to inform, having a simple, easy to use system might just work. Kevin took it on board and did something with it very quickly and it'll be bounced into the CRASH meeting in August with a view towards a bigger role out.

Its not going to solve bad driving that can only come from driver education, a different subject altogether and I'm sure the CRASH team would welcome any positive comments on how we do educate people. its not going to happen overnight though. All i know is that if we take lots of small steps when we can eventually it'll make a difference and anything we can do to save life is worth a go.

We either work with these teams or we'll suffer the consequences of legislating for the weakest link with reduced speed limits , more double whites etc etc.

Whitewash?, no its not, its an attempt to stop what inevitably will happen if we adopt a narrow minded, blinkered attitude and then blame others when it doesn't go as we'd like.
 
As somebody who does nearly 50k miles a year mostly on Cumbrian roads this is a genius idea, well done to all involved, does Kevin have an email address aswell that I could send to as I nearly always have me camera with me and see all sorts.

As you say, overgrown verges and dodgy surfaces mostly.

Rockjock, if you do see slurry on the road that presents a hazard dial 999, it IS an emergency and the authorites will respond right away, in my experience sending a patrol car to the affected area of road who will put out signs and await Amey Mouchel who I think are responsible for the majority of the Cumbrian roads we ride.

If they are unaware of a hazard they can do nothing about it, tell them you are a biker and the response is normally a blue light affair, I made this type of phone call 3 times last year on the A6, same goes for sheep where they shouldn't be.

Hope this helps.
 
I agree, it's only the bikers that seem to care about the condition of our roads and the hazards with good reason. It's an excellent idea and should be a countrywide thing with a central easy to remember phone number :thumbs:
 
so we as a group are being singled out again! what about white van man? what about geriatric myopic caravan puller? what about brain dead woman doing makeup? what about mr. hurry sales rep? what about jonny passed his test and thinks he's schumacher? what about every other sub group we can think of? What about the two car head on crash recently which killed five people on the A6? Any bikes involved? No! Cause - revealed yet? Prob not. Ian's mate who died? Single bike incident wasn't it?

I'm sorry but if we pander to this it identifies us further as a bunch of troublemakers, intent on speeding everywhere, @@@@ the consequences, @@@@ the rest attitude. The hazards on our roads are caused by human beings by and large, they are mobile, erratic and unpredictable. Road surface, visibility, cow @@@@ are all that we should see and avoid or account for - the consequences of not doing so lay at our doorstep.

Ian I did see freezing cow @@@@ one evening back in February on a local road about 10pm. Called 999, they seemed to think I was causing trouble and not too politely informed me that it was only police responsibility to visit the scene within two hours and assess if it was worthy of reporting to the highways department, who would not be around until 9 the next morning. They duly phoned me about four hours later and said officers had already seen it and didn't think it a problem - sat in their aircon tintop it was hardly @@@@ing surprising.

They will still put cameras out and lower speed limits and put more lines down, whatever we say or do, sure as eggs is eggs. It's a PR job. Unless the man can really convince me - but look at his job title - the motives are obvious.

Still it will ultimately be the locals who suffer - they are statistically more often there and more liable to be caught out. We will just ride somewhere else.

The only way to educate Joe Public Driver is make the test far more severe, ensure all drivers pass a motorcycle test first, cap power limits on both car and bike licenses, with a series of further tests to determine ability to handle more power, age related to some degree, compulsory re-tests at 40, 50, 60 and 70 years of age, as faculties decline, and shoot the @@@@@@@ car drivers who take out bikers - eh, Steve? Sorry, but I have a healthy distrust of the system.
 
rockjock620 said:
so we as a group are being singled out again! what about white van man? what about geriatric myopic caravan puller? what about brain dead woman doing makeup? what about mr. hurry sales rep? what about jonny passed his test and thinks he's schumacher? what about every other sub group we can think of? What about the two car head on crash recently which killed five people on the A6? Any bikes involved? No! Cause - revealed yet? Prob not. Ian's mate who died? Single bike incident wasn't it?

I'm sorry but if we pander to this it identifies us further as a bunch of troublemakers, intent on speeding everywhere, @@@@ the consequences, @@@@ the rest attitude. The hazards on our roads are caused by human beings by and large, they are mobile, erratic and unpredictable. Road surface, visibility, cow @@@@ are all that we should see and avoid or account for - the consequences of not doing so lay at our doorstep.

Ian I did see freezing cow @@@@ one evening back in February on a local road about 10pm. Called 999, they seemed to think I was causing trouble and not too politely informed me that it was only police responsibility to visit the scene within two hours and assess if it was worthy of reporting to the highways department, who would not be around until 9 the next morning. They duly phoned me about four hours later and said officers had already seen it and didn't think it a problem - sat in their aircon tintop it was hardly @@@@ing surprising.

They will still put cameras out and lower speed limits and put more lines down, whatever we say or do, sure as eggs is eggs. It's a PR job. Unless the man can really convince me - but look at his job title - the motives are obvious.

Still it will ultimately be the locals who suffer - they are statistically more often there and more liable to be caught out. We will just ride somewhere else.

The only way to educate Joe Public Driver is make the test far more severe, ensure all drivers pass a motorcycle test first, cap power limits on both car and bike licenses, with a series of further tests to determine ability to handle more power, age related to some degree, compulsory re-tests at 40, 50, 60 and 70 years of age, as faculties decline, and shoot the @@@@@@@ car drivers who take out bikers - eh, Steve? Sorry, but I have a healthy distrust of the system.
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You seem to be happy in your own paranoid world Pete so nowt anyone tries to do is going to be right unless it fits your bill but don't knock those who do give a sh!t and try and do summit about it. Kevin don't need to prove to you or anyone else what his motives are and i couldn't care less anyway, if setting things up saves 1 life then thats worthwhile in my book but maybe not yours?. The proposed system had nowt to do with driving standards, thats an altogether different subject and if you really feel you've got something useful to contribute and have stuff that can be implemented get off yer arse and make it happen... thats what some of us do, alter things we can and try and move things forward step by step, we accept there are things we can influence and things we can't and just cos we can't change it all don't mean we give in and do nowt.

As it happens i agree with some of your points on driving standards and how to change things but i'll not waste my time debating them here, i'll just get on and try and make it happen when i can using channels which do have an effect which luckily Cumbria Speed Camera team has now provided, its nice to be able to use the system for a change.
 
dseered said:
does Kevin have an email address aswell that I could send to as I nearly always have me camera with me and see all sorts.
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Ian, no, no email as yet but there was discussion on a website but obviously that involves a lot more costs. Kevin took the mms thing on board himself in an attempt to get things up and going.

I'd like to see a searchable web driven SQL database of notified road problems, if we could get this it would mean you'd be able to search for known issues if you did crash and if local councils were aware of it possibly claim against them pushing the onus back onto them. the only thing they understand is finance and if their insurers get hit with a load of claims they'll increase their premiums until eventually the councils do sit up and take notice. I foresee major problems getting this funded and set-up but the idea is there and its worth a try to make it happen.
 
roads

Hello Fella's, i agree with all of you, but interestingly do you remember my mate who slid his mille on the local round about about 3 months ago?
Well I phoned the highways agency immediately after the accident and they had a van out to the scene in about 20 minutes. Well the up shot of that was I got the before and after photos and his solicitor has said the highways lot are liable for not maintaining the road. He's looking at getting his no claims and excess back and claiming for a new jacket!
So my point is, if its dodgy photograph it and report it. Once the Highways agency have been told about the problem they are liable if they dont do anthing about it and someone gets hurt.
At the end of the day someone might actually realise that most bikers are vastly more road aware than your average car driver!
 
Pete, I do think you are missing the point of this thread, its not to aportion blame to any particular road user, it is aimed at reducing road casualties, as Mikey says, overgrown verges and dodgy surfaces etc.

Local authority will do the rounds every so often, to a set route at a set time interval, in the mean time Summer may have come and gone, it is only when someone takes a risk at pulling out 'cause they can't see over the verge will a problem become apparant. Or you brake hard into your favourite corner to find the rain has turned the surface to gravel, our roads change more than the tidal sands !

This is an amazing opportunity to report a problem to someone that
a) gives a @@@@.

b) who knows where to direct a particular issue.

I know for a fact that Cumbria are addamant that casualties have to be reduced, to many @@@@ wits come here and think they know better and can ride like idiots, that will no longer be the case after the alarming number of incidents this year so far, I understand the average is 3 deaths per WEEKEND on Cumbrian roads, not acceptable.

My mate Paul, single vehicle incident, it turns out that he was more than likely blinded by the sun, he will have been going like the wind though as we all do from time to time, it was the wrong time for him.

I am sorry that the Police in your area did not think that your frozen @@@@ was important, Cumbria however are very, very good and I think this shines through with what Mike is posting here, liason with the people they are trying to stop from dying.
 
Sorry Ian , I didnt make myself clear (had a few cans last night when on the site.)
I firmly believe that prevention is better than a cure.
If this Road Hazard alert system 'scheme' wants us bikers to show them all the bad bits of road that we come across then I say fair play - at least someone is listening. But if we dont do it then we have only ourselves to blame.
I think if we all sent in a couple of pictures each then at least the authorities would realise that we do care about our own safety and other road users.
Im going out now to take some pictures of the liquid tar corner that I mentioned a while ago. I will send them in and see what happens.
 
posiden said:
Sorry Ian , I didnt make myself clear (had a few cans last night when on the site.)
I firmly believe that prevention is better than a cure.
If this Road Hazard alert system 'scheme' wants us bikers to show them all the bad bits of road that we come across then I say fair play - at least someone is listening. But if we dont do it then we have only ourselves to blame.
I think if we all sent in a couple of pictures each then at least the authorities would realise that we do care about our own safety and other road users.
Im going out now to take some pictures of the liquid tar corner that I mentioned a while ago. I will send them in and see what happens.
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LOL - Pete, although I'm sure Ian'll put you right when he next gets on line I think his post related to Pete RJ not you :)
 
AAAAHHHHHH thanks for pointing that out - i didnt think i was that drunk last night - i forgot rockjock is also called pete. !!!
all the best - have you bought a bigger bike yet ?
 
posiden said:
AAAAHHHHHH thanks for pointing that out - i didnt think i was that drunk last night - i forgot rockjock is also called pete. !!!
all the best - have you bought a bigger bike yet ?
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Sorry for the confusion Pete, my post was in reponse to RJ's !
 
i tried the link and got to the home page but couldnt get the map link to work so i submitted a report by putting the details in - We'll see what happens.
Sadly enough i went out on the KTM and saw the council lads dumping gravel in a large layby ready for 'shilly chucking season.'You know where they spread a thin layer of tar on the road and pour gravel on it until its inches deep and then let the traffic roll it in for them.
Sure enough the road between Santon Bridge and Eskdale green was 4 inches deep in loose gravel - nearly had me off a few times - you cant win can you !
 
What is the correct procedure for reporting problems with roads generally? anyone know?

the reason i ask is i almost fell foul of a piece of scrap metal obstructing the entier near side lane of the M62. not really knowing what the right thing to do was i rang 0845 6060606 (stored in my phone) which is the number for Non emergency Police call centre. they were really grateful for the call and a few mins later a unit went screaming down the oppisite carraige way. However this is a motorway, would I / we contact the same number to report problems on A and B roads?

(btw that number was answered " West Yorks Police" so dont know if it is a national call centre or not)
 
Biscuitandpotato said:
What is the correct procedure for reporting problems with roads generally? anyone know?

the reason i ask is i almost fell foul of a piece of scrap metal obstructing the entier near side lane of the M62. not really knowing what the right thing to do was i rang 0845 6060606 (stored in my phone) which is the number for Non emergency Police call centre. they were really grateful for the call and a few mins later a unit went screaming down the oppisite carraige way. However this is a motorway, would I / we contact the same number to report problems on A and B roads?

(btw that number was answered " West Yorks Police" so dont know if it is a national call centre or not)
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Not sure about a general number although the incident you describe I would have dialled 999 !
 
have rung 999 before to report a drunk? wandering around a hard shoulder, took ages to get thru to police once initial contact made and were more interested in me and my details and why i was ringing 999 :confused:

this number the whole process took a 2 minutes max and they seemed well pleased id reported it...
 
Good thread, however I have a healthy disrespect for the 'safety camera' brigade - especially the cumbrian lot that monitor the M6.

I just don't understand the 'safety' issue of dry roads, bright sunshine, no other traffic travelling the same way on the M'way and there he/she is - in a van sat on the flyover on that nice long downhill section heading toward Lancaster....Sorry but 'safety' doesn't wash for me at all in that case.

The principle proposed here is great though, not sure what happens over here in County Durham - but this has made me curious and I intend to call and find out, will post up when I have some info.
cheers

Neil
 
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