Driver banned for ignoring road block
A MAN has been banned from driving after ignoring Highways Agency closures following a collision on the M42 motorway.
Carl Phillip Bloom dodged the road closure between junctions 2 and 1 of the southbound M42 on Worcestershire on January 20 last year by driving his white Mercedes van around cones via the hard shoulder.
Bloom, aged 45, of Peel Street, Kidderminster, denied driving on a motorway hard shoulder and failing to stop when requested by Highways England Traffic Officers but was convicted in his absence following a trial at Kidderminster Magistrates’ Court.
He was disqualified from driving for six months, fined £880 and ordered to pay £620 costs and a £44 victim surcharge. He also had three penalty points added to his licence.
Highways England Traffic Officer Adam Strang had put in place a rolling road block at around midday after a serious crash involving an HGV on the nearby M5.
He used his vehicle to bring traffic to a halt and then placed five cones across the carriageway. Further up the carriageway Traffic Officer Jonathan Treadwell was directing traffic off the motorway at junction 1.
The traffic had been stationary for more than a minute when Bloom drove onto the hard shoulder and around the cones, heading down the carriageway towards the exit. His van and two other vehicles were seen leaving the motorway by Mr Treadwell as he was closing the carriageway and Bloom’s registration number was passed to police.
Speaking after the case, Richard Leonard, Head of Road Safety at Highways England, said: “We hope this case sends out an important message because those who ignore road closures put other people’s safety in jeopardy and this was clearly the case here for our traffic officers.
“Any decision to close the motorway is not taken lightly, but when this happens, drivers must obey the closure. It’s there for the safety people in difficulty, recovery and emergency services.”