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As I was driving to work the other morning, the RDS picks up a traffic report about lorry crash in the contraflow between J17/J18 of M4. A couple of minutes later, a second RDS report from a different radio station again goes on about a lorry stuck in contraflow in the same place. So I brace myself for a very slow journey to work as I was about about to hit the start of the contraflow and (allegedly) some rather long queues........ Except that there was no accident, not even a broken down lorry. There was'nt even any sign of a recent accident, not a single cone out of place, no police, no highway patrol. Yet both traffic reports had independently reported an accident had just occurred involving a lorry in the contraflow, and that people had been ringing in about it. The funny thing was that the traffic that morning was running through the roadworks some 15 MPh slower than usual - coincidence ? Maybe phantom traffic reports are a new initiative to slow us all down at roadworks - anybody else come across this scheme ?
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Many of these reports are provided by the general public phoning in, then shared around the various radio stations belonging to the same media company or some arrangement.
In this case, either someone got it wrong, in phoning in or taking the details, allowing the error to be duplicated; or there may have been malice involved.
I doubt it was a deliberate ploy on part of the authorities.
H
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I've always thought that a report on the radio of severe delays actually means the opposite ! When you get there all is almost always okay, meanwhile I guarantee you that if you are stuck in a jam, it will never be mentioned, or at least not until you've been there for at least an hour !
I never bother listening to these so-called traffic reports any more, the only traffic advice I ever take is from colleagues who phone into the office warning of jams they are seeing.
Radio traffic reports either state the bleedin obvious (ie M4 heavy eastbound at 08:30 in the morning) or fail to report the 'real' problems.
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As Hugo says, there is some sharing of info between radio stations. Also, in that area , Radios Wiltshire and Swindon often put out near identical info within 5 mins of each other. If there is a problem, I 'phone the local station, as their info is only good as their last update; thye are pleased to hear if the motorway is now clear.
Regarding the Eastbound M4 Reading area, that's a lottery, as the 'Mexican Wave' or 'Slinky' rolling effect means you can hit a stationary spot anywhere...
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I texted Classic FM a few weeks ago about hold ups on the M6. They were very pleased to hear from me and gave me a name check!
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Espada III - well if you have a family and need a Lamborghini, what else do you drive?
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Some years ago a friend of mine (and yes, it really was a friend) was conducting a little hobby he thought better to keep from his wife. Phoning home to explain why he would be late one day, he said he was stuck in a traffic jam on the M11.She was listening to Breeze FM who reported no problems on the M11 on one of their traffic bulletins, so she rang them to say it was at a stanstill southbound at Harlow and her husband was stuck in it.
They broadcast it.
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She was listening to Breeze FM who reported no problems on the M11 on one of their traffic bulletins, so she rang them to say it was at a stanstill southbound at Harlow and her husband was stuck in it. They broadcast it.
If they were feeling cautious, they could have reported that "the AA tells us that traffic is flowing freely on the M11, but Mrs Smithers from Walthamstow has just called us to say that her husband Egbert tells her he is stuck in a traffic jam near Harlow. If you have any more info, call us ..."
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It's always a comfort, to hear Sally Traffic, teeling us about the delays on the Isle Of Skye Bridge, or the M25, or M6.
Especially when 99% of us are hardly likely to be affected!!
Brings back memmories when I'd invest several hours a day, on the highways & byways, trundling to & from auctions!!
VB
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My problem with these damned things is that the people who deliver them now feel the need to be "characters". Thus, you get a minute or two of preamble about where they went last night or what they had for breakfast, along with a few in-jokes with the DJ (normally exchanges with all the wit of a tree-felling). Then there are 2 minutes of details of what's going on in Crown Street in Whitsnode.
Then, and only then, do they go on to tell you that the accident at the "Snibble junction on the M4" (or some other incomprehensible local reference) has caused 20 mile tailbacks. Thanks a bundle.
V
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Like the elderly lady who phoned her husband to warn him that she had heard on the radio that some idiot was driving the wrong way down the M6.
"What do you mean, some idiot?" he asked. "There's hundreds of them......."
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