Police look to reduce motorway closures

Thames Valley Police are applying for a share of a grant to help fund new 3D laser scanning technology equipment

MOTORWAY closures could be significantly reduced if Thames Valley Police is successful in securing a share of a grant to help fund new 3D laser scanning technology equipment.

Earlier this year, Roads Minister Mike Penning announced his intention to make £3.14m available to police forces in England as a contribution towards facilitating the wider roll-out of laser scanning technology equipment for surveying motorway incident scenes.

And the Government has just opened an initiative that gives police authorities the chance to bid for a share of the money to help buy the new equipment, which a review led by the Department for Transport (DfT) has recognised could help reduce the time taken to survey a major incident.

Currently, the DfT estimates that motorway closures in England cost the economy £1billion a year, which the Government believes is an unacceptable brake on the country's economic recovery.

Thames Valley Police is responsible for policing large parts of the Strategic Road Network, including the M4 and A34, and the manager of the collision investigation unit, Geoff Chambers, said the force would be looking for “a slice of the pie.”

He said: “With a major incident, we can be there for quite a number of hours and the knock on effect is immense.

“This is about trying to reduce the amount of time we are on the scene.”

Mr Chambers said the new technology would essentially enable collision investigators to take the scene back to their office, reducing the amount of time they would need to be at the scene and the amount of time for which a closure was required.

Bids from police forces must be received by November 18 and the DfT says successful bidders will be confirmed by early December, with the grant paid at the point at which an order is placed for the equipment.