Episode 14 A1: Britain's Longest Road

The A1, Britain's longest road.

Stretching almost 400 miles from the City of London

to the heart of the Scottish capital.

Connecting two nations and passing through 18 counties.

It's an unrivalled highway

used by hundreds of thousands of vehicles every day.

We're going southbound down the A1

on the northbound carriageway.

But not all journeys go to plan.

I thought, am I going to lose my life?

Cars are coming close.

It is a dangerous place to be.

Lives can hang in the balance.

The rear end of that vehicle is unrecognisable.

This is actually the bodywork of the car.

24 hours a day...

It's not a safe place here.

..there's a team of people who keep us safe from harm -

the police...

..response teams...

We don't know whether they've got the road closed and we don't know what's happened.

..and traffic officers.

Keep going.

Keeping Britain's most iconic road...

-Get out.

-..on the move.

Substantially damaged flat-bed truck in lane two.

The A1, the monster that it is, will start to return to normal.

Coming up...

a rush-hour crash...

-HE COUGHS

-Dear me.

..leaves traffic officers hot under the collar.

There is some smoke coming from inside the cabin.

Can we request fire to scene to check it out, over?

Police take the high road in a crackdown on dangerous truckers.

Hand-held mobile device.

Had his phone in his left hand.

And a bus breakdown sparks a major highway hold-up.

My concern is that because there's so much oil and fluids inside the vehicle,

when they lift it up to tow it off,

that might spill out on to the road.

At nearly 400 miles long,

the A1 is Britain's longest and most iconic road.

And problems can often occur when it meets with some of the country's

other major routes.

One such area is in South Yorkshire,

where the A1 intersects with the M18.

It's the morning rush-hour and as Highways England traffic officers

Matt Gibson and Rob Larkin approach this crucial crossroads,

it already appears trouble is brewing.

At this point it's backing up on the roundabout,

which isn't normal.

So there's a possibility something has broken down somewhere.

1-3, we're on the roundabout, junction 35 A1(M).

We believe there is a live lane breakdown.

Go down the slip, Matt.

What looked like a breakdown is in fact much more serious.

Oh, it's an RTC.

I can confirm it's RTC.

Car in lane one of the slip.

LGV in lane one of the roundabout, over.

There's been a collision between two cars.

A Hyundai appears to have shunted a BMW into the middle of a roundabout

that feeds on to the A1.

The first priority for Matt and Rob

is to assess whether the drivers are hurt.

Is everyone OK?

-Yes. Fine.

-No injuries?

-No.

-Are you sure?

-Yes.

-Just shook up.

-Just shook up.

-OK.

With the traffic ground to a halt and already backing up,

they need to clear dangerous debris off the road.

It's rush hour now. We've got traffic stopped.

We intend to get it running as quick as we can.

Before the rush-hour commuters can get on their way,

the damaged vehicles need to be moved to the hard shoulder.

It won't start that, Rob.

-Won't start?

-No. We need to drag it in a minute.

If they won't drive, they'll have to be towed.

I'm just going to hook this vehicle up to ours, so we can drag you out

of the live lane.

But it appears there's a big problem with the BMW.

HE COUGHS

Cor - the smell coming out of this car.

And Rob fears the worst.

Could be... Sometimes battery acid smells.

Could be that.

An acid leak is a potential fire risk.

THEY COUGH

Add to that a jammed handbrake,

and this shunt is turning into a challenging recovery

for the traffic officers.

It might be a tough drag, this.

We'll do it.

After just 15 minutes, they have managed to shift both vehicles.

We'll get back over here and then we'll let traffic go.

And with the road reopened,

rush-hour commuters can head off to work.

-Dear me.

-But for Rob,

the BMW is still a serious hazard and he's calling for urgent backup.

1-3, we've moved this vehicle on to the hard shoulder.

There is some smoke coming from inside the cabin.

We believe it might be the battery.

With it being a BMW, the battery's in the back.

It may have split. It is a very sulphury smell.

Can we request fire to scene to check it out, over?

With huge tailbacks and vehicles passing close by,

Rob is just hoping the fire brigade will arrive before the incident gets

out of control.

Hundreds of thousands of vehicles use the A1 every single day.

But like all roads,

it's affected by one of the scourges of modern-day Britain -

drivers who are distracted behind the wheel.

Mobile phone calls,

texting or even adjusting in-car controls

can all lead to a momentary lapse in concentration,

which can have disastrous results.

And when lorries weighing up to 40 tonnes are involved,

the consequences can be deadly.

On the A1 in County Durham,

police are on a mission to rid the road of dangerous truck drivers.

And they have a secret weapon.

It's an unmarked six-tonne lorry

which will give them a bird's eye view into other HGV cabs.

Riding high in the lorry are PCs Andy Edgar and Ian Stapeley...

He's got his belt on.

..while PC Neil Armstrong travels behind them, ready to pull over offenders.

Predominantly, we are targeting the heavy goods vehicles.

You know,

the vehicles that we ordinarily can't see into.

In a police car there is only so much view,

so with a HGV we now have a better scope on looking for seat belts,

mobile phones.

If we can educate drivers, casualties will be reduced.

And within just minutes of arriving on the A1 in County Durham,

the police team spot a lorry with a driver

who has just one hand on the wheel.

He's on his phone.

Yep, I'll have him.

Hand-held mobile device.

Had his phone in his left hand.

If he loses control playing with his phone in that,

the damage it could do on a road like this, it could be horrendous.

Obviously you've realised why we've stopped you.

We carried out an operation today

using this vehicle, which is an unmarked police vehicle,

and as we've come past you,

you've got your phone in your hand, using it.

In 2014, more than 16,000 drivers

were convicted of using a mobile at the wheel

and PC Neil Armstrong is quick to lay down the law.

Because you've committed an offence of using your mobile phone while

driving, I have to caution you.

OK? You don't have to say anything but it may harm your defence if you

don't mention, when questioned, something which you later rely on in court.

Anything you do say may be given in evidence.

Do you wish to give any explanation

-as to why you've committed that offence?

-No.

The driver faces a £100 on-the-spot fine

plus three points on his licence.

You're going to be reported for the consideration of the question

of prosecuting you for using a mobile phone while driving.

So what's going to happen now, that will get submitted to the central

ticket office. You do nothing now.

You wait for the central ticket office to get in touch with you

and make you what they call an offer.

-All right?

-No worries.

-Take care now.

The fine and penalty points might not be the only worry for this driver.

With some haulage firms operating a zero-points policy, it could mean

he also loses his job.

When drivers use their mobile phone,

their attention is not being paid to the road.

If you're travelling at 70mph, to hit another vehicle,

you're talking major trauma.

From his elevated position,

it's easy for Ian to spot complacent or

negligent HGV drivers.

And it's not just mobile phones

which are creating life-threatening situations.

I don't think he's got his belt on.

Yes, yes, all received. Just behind him, Ian.

Right, jump out.

It's estimated that around a thousand drivers a day

don't wear seat belts on this stretch of the A1.

My colleague has already alluded to the fact we are on operation today.

Not wearing your seat belt.

It's all been captured on camera.

What I propose to do is issue you with a non-endorsable

fixed penalty ticket.

It's not points, so you're not looking at your licence being endorsed but,

obviously, it is a fine, the fine being £100.

All right?

My point of view,

you're getting stung harsh, but please, yeah, belt on.

-Belt on, we wouldn't be having this conversation.

-Yeah.

With hard evidence captured on Ian's camera...

Watch how you go, take care.

..the driver has no option but to accept the fine.

The usual reaction you get when you stop a motorist that has committed

offences, is just dazed and then usually, to be fair,

probably gutted.

We sort of, like, compound the fact when we tell them

how much the fine is and that really upsets them.

With six hours of their operation still to go,

Neil and the team are convinced they'll catch even more culprits.

More than 50 miles north, near Newcastle,

a hefty problem needs to be sorted out by the police.

It's Friday rush hour, and A1 patrol officer PC Darren Lant

is heading out to deal with a broken-down bus,

which is blocking a lane of the busy southbound carriageway.

I'm not quite sure what sort of bus, whether it's a single-decker

or double-decker, whether it's got passengers on it, or...

We're still waiting for that information coming forward.

It's right at the start of the Easter break,

and, with the road approaching one of its busiest times of the year,

an incident like this will definitely create traffic trouble.

SIREN WAILS

It's my job to get there,

and if there is anybody on the bus,

just keep them on the bus and that's going to give them some protection.

Hopefully we'll get there nice and quick.

The A1 here is a dual carriageway,

so the breakdown is having a huge effect on traffic flow.

This traffic here is the consequence of this bus breaking down.

CAR HORN HONKS

Look at all this traffic.

We'll try and fight our way through here.

Darren's the first on the scene...

6-3-4, pulling up on scene.

..and he's greeted by the driver of the stricken bus.

Hello, sir!

Yeah?

OK.

With his bus starting to overheat, and the lives of his passengers

paramount, the bus driver has already got them to safety,

away from the A1.

So I saw some smoke coming off the oil,

and I thought, if that's...

If it was a hazard, like. if it was going to go up in flames...

I got them off onto the grass verge

in front of the bus, for safety reasons,

and then I flagged another bus down.

They weren't too bad, actually, and luckily there's buses coming

past here every, sort of, minute or so.

But while the passengers have all been safely evacuated,

the bus itself still represents a major hazard

for thousands of motorists making an Easter getaway.

As well as Darren, his colleague Alan Keenleyside

is now at the scene...

Give us a run-down.

..while highway officers are helping to make

the area around the bus safe...

All that's going to run out.

..and soon it's clear this hulk of a vehicle is going to take

some time to shift.

So, right at the bottom there, almost behind the wheel,

is part of what's called the prop shaft,

which basically spins the wheels,

and it's that that's flew up inside the engine compartment,

and it's hit the oil sump,

and that's punctured, set the oil out,

and made the engine come to a complete stop.

But because it's now unstable,

simply towing the bus away isn't an option.

There's something telling me, if the transmission's on

the left side of this engine base, you can't...

-You've got to leave it.

-You've got to leave it, aye.

So it's a left-mount leave, L for leave.

We could end up causing more damage than it's worth,

and I'm not being responsible for damage to that bus.

With thousands of vehicles caught in miles of tailbacks, the breakdown's

already causing traffic chaos,

and unless they can stem the oil spillage soon,

recovering the bus could lead to even bigger delays.

The problem we might have is,

because there's so much oil and fluids inside the vehicle,

when they lift it up to tow it off,

that might spill out on to the road.

So we have the option of doing a reverse lift,

where we have to close the A1,

and take it north in the southbound lane.

We don't know yet. We'll have to see.

With holiday traffic already backing up for miles,

closing the entire southbound carriageway would be

a further nightmare for thousands of people already suffering

at the start of their break.

The recovery vehicle that we really need,

like, now, is stuck in traffic,

which is a direct result of the bus breaking down

and the lane having to be closed.

It's not very good when your recovery truck

gets stuck in traffic.

Finally, the potential saviour arrives under police escort,

and Darren can only hope this escalating situation

doesn't get any worse.

In South Yorkshire, an accident close to where the A1

and the M18 intersect is causing big delays.

Traffic officers Rob and Matt have moved two cars,

which were blocking the road, allowing vehicles to get back on to the A1.

As you can see, it's freed up again quite quickly, so that's the aim of the game.

But now, they've got an incendiary issue to tackle.

HE COUGHS

Dear me.

They suspect a battery damaged in the crash is leaking acid and

could be a fire hazard.

So they've called for help from the Fire Brigade.

There's a really eggy smell coming out of the back of it.

A choking, choking smell.

So what we've done, we've asked for the Fire Brigade to attend.

If it is the battery and it's split,

they might put some neutraliser on it or something.

But there's a chance, with it being electrical,

it could cause a fire, so it's always better to have them

come out just in case.

They're here now. The Fire Service are coming.

But there is confusion over where the fire engine should be coming to.

-Where have they gone?

-Up the M18 slip.

1-3, I believe Fire Service have maybe got the wrong location for this.

They've gone by us and gone straight up the slip.

After a short detour, the Fire Brigade have arrived.

You all right?

All it is, it's been hit up back and the car's full of smoke still inside.

A really, really strong, like, toxic smell.

We just thought we'd get it checked out because the smell was constant.

It won't go away.

Access to the battery is via the boot,

but the accident means it won't open. The smell is getting worse.

So drastic measures are called for.

Aye-aye, the jaws of death are coming.

Rob and Matt were right.

The battery is smoking and could have ignited at any point.

Well, basically, it's had a rear-end collision.

The battery is in the rear on a BMW. It's been fuming off.

So we just cut through the terminals and made it safe.

With the danger averted,

Matt and Rob can finally breathe a sigh of relief.

The Fire Service have now left the scene. They've checked the car over.

They've disconnected all the battery, it's all been declared safe.

The lady's just been on the phone to BMW Assist,

and they're going to come out within the hour to recover this vehicle.

So we're just going to stay on scene,

make sure it's safe and protected, and then hopefully,

we'll get it all clear and back and running shortly.

Over there, you can see we have had the contractors come.

They've picked up the debris from the two vehicles where they crashed,

and then obviously, we've got the recovery here.

That's coming for this, and then it will be scene clear.

With the recovery vehicle on its way,

Rob and Matt can head back to patrol

this incident-filled stretch of the highway.

It's not a bad outcome at all - really.

No injury.

The driver had arranged recovery through her insurance company.

I think she's getting the train, isn't the?

Yeah, they're going to take her to the car dealership

and they're going to provide a taxi,

then a train all the way back to Suffolk.

So she doesn't have to travel by car back home today.

Yeah, she did say she didn't want to drive, didn't she?

So, that's a good outcome.

On the A1 in County Durham,

the team targeting dangerous lorry drivers is nearly an hour and a half

into its operation,

using an unmarked HGV.

The three officers are on the lookout for

unsuspecting lorry drivers,

who might think that their lofty position on the road puts them

out of sight of regular police cars.

But riding high in the police artic,

it's not long before PC Ian Stapeley spots another offender.

No belt.

No belt.

Pulling over this pallet wagon.

'Driver... No seat belt.'

All received. We're just pulling him in now.

But as the officers pull him over, they're in for a surprise.

Sorry?

When this vehicle was first put on the road,

it didn't have seat belts fitted.

so, because, as the law stands,

if the vehicle wasn't fitted with seat belts at the time,

then, under the Road Traffic Act,

they don't need to actually have them.

So, not very often you see a vehicle as old as this,

so they're...they'll be on their way.

Never mind.

Andy and Ian are not just on the lookout for HGV drivers

who are breaking the law,

they have a bird's eye view of all traffic on the A1,

and Ian's taking a closer look at a passing car transporter.

-No belt.

-Yep, no belt.

Yeah, there's a car transporter just behind us,

one vehicle on the back of it,

driver - no seat belt.

This guy has, again, no seat belt,

so main arterial route, speed limit 70,

and although this bit of glass keeps you dry when it's raining,

it's not going to protect you from hitting the tarmac

if you're involved in a bad collision.

Safety is at the heart of the crackdown,

and getting the right message across is one of the team's top priorities.

-Is this your vehicle?

-No, work.

-Works van. Have you got any ID on you at all?

-Yeah.

-So, if you want to just come take a seat in my car, mate...

-Yeah.

So, any reason why you weren't wearing your seat belt?

So you don't have an exemption?

OK, there will be a fine involved

as a result of not wearing your seat belt today.

-OK?

-OK.

-Seat belts will save lives,

and that's the reason why we stop drivers

and try and educate them into using that.

It's an instant £100 on-the-spot fine for the driver,

but this motorist is more interested in handing out

safety advice to Neil.

Police officers are exempt from wearing seat belts

while they have people in the vehicle,

and we are exempt from wearing seat belts when we don't

have people in the vehicle.

And after a quick vehicle check...

'I've checked, and recently it's been in our area.

'Stand by, one.'

..the driver's day is about to get even worse.

Did they say it ain't got an MOT?

Your MOT ran out, yeah.

Unfortunately, because the MOT is out on the truck, erm,

that's an offence, and I have to issue you with another one of these.

If the MOT's out,

then what's to say what faults are on that vehicle from the day it was

tested, if you follow me?

And that's your documentation, there.

Right, watch out over here. Watch how you go, kidder.

£200 lighter, the driver's finally on his way.

He's not had the best of starts to his day.

You know, I do like meeting the public,

I do like making a difference.

It sounds corny, but, you know, you do.

You do make a difference, at times,

and if these people who I've stopped today

prevent the accidents tomorrow,

you know, we just can't quantify it.

You know, we won't know.

In Northumberland,

a broken-down bus is causing PC Darren Lant

and thousands of Easter holiday-makers

huge problems on the A1 at Seaton Burn.

It's been blocking half of the carriageway for nearly an hour...

I'm not praying, I'm just looking.

..and congestion is so bad that the police helicopter has been sent up

to keep others trying to begin their Easter getaway informed.

Basically, the helicopter's up, cos what that'll do is that

videos us and puts the live images into the control room,

so the supervisors in there can see what effect it's

having on the traffic, and how far the traffic jam is,

and then they'll come up with a strategic plan

as to how they're going to deal with that.

With a broken prop shaft and badly-leaking oil,

the bus needs expert handling before it can be removed.

You can't really tow a heavy goods vehicle

when the prop shafts are engaged.

You have to disengage them or take them out, so the vehicle will run

freely, so that's basically what the guys are doing now -

they're disengaging prop shafts, so the vehicle can move easily.

And to Darren's relief, moving it won't mean dragging it backwards,

which would have meant closing the whole of the southbound A1.

The recovery lads have said that the easiest...

Probably the best way to do it is just to lift the front up

and take it with the flow of traffic.

My concern is that when they do that,

because the vehicle is lifted up, and all the fluids are at the front,

are they going to drain out from the broken prop shaft

where all the oil and fluids are?

Is that going to drain on to the road?

When it goes off, we're just going to, any second...

It may cause a trail, but the Highways staff are behind.

They'll sprinkle all that sawdust-type stuff,

they'll sprinkle that and that'll soak that up.

Yeah, I think we're ready to go.

With the recovery driver all set...

I'm just going to go for it.

..Darren takes up a watching brief behind.

The bus is now all hooked up, erm,

as a trailer to the recovery operator,

and we're going to follow the truck back,

being towed back to its depot in Ashington,

which is a canny little drive away.

That's a good 15 minutes away.

But almost as soon as the bus sets off,

Darren's hopes for the recovery come to a grinding halt.

Strange.

What's the matter? Is it leaking again?

Aye. Yeah. The brakes have gone.

It's all locked on.

With the bus's brakes jammed,

towing this 18-tonne monster is going to be impossible,

and for traffic officer Peter Senior,

that means his stretch of the A1 faces further delays.

Yeah, they managed to tow this bus approximately 50 metres,

and they've had to stop again.

The problem is...

The initial problem with the bus, the prop shaft snapped,

but apparently it's damaged one of the air lines

and now the brakes have locked on.

We've got to fit a bag under the bus now.

He's trying to wind the brakes off manually,

so hopefully it's not going to take too long,

and we'll be able to get it moved over.

Oh, and we're off.

Yay. Here we go. We'll try again.

HORN HONKS

Hopefully, we've...the recovery staff have got it cracked,

and they can get it safely recovered to the bus depot.

Back on the move again,

Darren and the recovery crew finally make it off the A1

and nurse the stricken bus back to the depot for repairs.

Oh, well. Happy days.

After dealing with two hours of traffic chaos

caused by the bus breakdown,

there's just one last job for Darren.

We've rejoined the A1.

We're going to have to check to make sure everything is OK,

and, look, all gone. Beautiful.

Nice and clear. Just back to normal Friday rush-hour traffic.

You would never think it was at a standstill half an hour ago.

The driver stopped for using his mobile phone at the wheel

was fined more than £130,

and received three points on his licence,

but a recent change in the law means those penalties

have now doubled for new offenders,

and the trucker who was found not to be wearing a seat belt

was fined £100.