Chaos on the A14

[Thracian]

Was anyone else caught up in the ridiculous chaos on the A14 this morning when thousands were held up for two hours because of a horse?

Talk about turning a minor drama into a crisis. The only positive was that it would really make a great book ... a story about the far-reaching consequences to so many of those who were forced to remain stranded.

Talk about (slowly) fixing one problem at the cost of causing endless others.

From what I was told by those standing 100 yards away from the incident, a horse had impaled itself in its own horse box and was in considerable distress.

The horsebox was hove to at the left of the inside carriageway of the two-lane road. A road patrol had positioned itself astride the two lanes with a sign warning vehicls not to pass. The tailbacks stretched back for miles.

There was, of course, room to get past but emergency staff wouldn't hear of it, saying that there were fears that the noise would disturb the horse.

Drivers insisted that vehicles would pass very slowly and very quietly but no, the uniforms were adamant. No-one was to move, yet, throughout the entire two hours of the incident, the traffic on the other, westbound carriageways, thundered by in easy earshot of the suffering horse.

I lost count of the various emergency vehicles that eventually arrived (and had to be paid for) to attend this injured horse in its ordinary horsebox.

But four or five fire appliances with various cranes and other equipment plus vet, supplementary emergency vehicles and traffic management vehicles. If I said at least 40 uniforms turned out I don't think I'd be exaggerating.

To get there some of those vehicles came from the previous junction, driving through the centre of the tailed-back lines of stranded vehicles who were lining the road alternatively on the far left and far right.

Various people suggested that emergency staff could be sighted at either end of a) the incident and b) the previous junction and the traffic allowed to turn round and drive back where they'd come from and off the motorway. But no. The services were intent on their task and remaining totally ignorant of the problems sorting it was causing everyone else.

For instance the many people in danger of missing flight connections from Stanstead.

The couple dashing to see a dying relative in hospital.

The conveyer of a trailer load of 150 poultry which were fast becoming seriously distressed to the point of death in the sun and through lack of water.

And that was only the stories from the front of what seemed an endless queue.

I thought the emergency services were supposed to minimise distress, not act in such a blinkered and ignorant way as to unnecessarily cause far more problems than the one they actually sorted.

At the very least some of the most desperate individuals could have been allowed passage, even if intermitently. After all, it was a considerable amount of time before a vet or suitable vehicle movers were on site to do anything much for the horse.

[AoWW]

Don''t know the full details of this, nor how long it took a vet to get there, but the horse could - and should - have been heavily sedated as soon as the vet arrived... this would then have eased the horse's distress and traffic could carefully have gone past without the horse so much as flicking a whisker. Sounds a bizarre situation.

Purely out of curiosity, whereabouts on the A14 was this?

[Bert]

Don''t know the full details of this, nor how long it took a vet to get there, but the horse could - and should - have been heavily sedated as soon as the vet arrived... this would then have eased the horse's distress and traffic could carefully have gone past without the horse so much as flicking a whisker. Sounds a bizarre situation.

Purely out of curiosity, whereabouts on the A14 was this?

Junction 1, near Welford.

[purpleronnie]

I blame the labour government.

[lou]

I blame the labour government.

Well I blame the immigrants... bet it was a black horse.

Having kept horses in the past I hope its ok but knowing how they are it didnt sound good.

[Salieri]

Well I blame the immigrants... bet it was a black horse.

Having kept horses in the past I hope its ok but knowing how they are it didnt sound good.

[haraven]

Over here that horse would be pretty close to ending up as a sausage, and the only piling up of cars would be people ready for a snack.

[Stuliasz]

Was anyone else caught up in the ridiculous chaos on the A14 this morning when thousands were held up for two hours because of a horse?

Talk about turning a minor drama into a crisis. The only positive was that it would really make a great book ... a story about the far-reaching consequences to so many of those who were forced to remain stranded.

Talk about (slowly) fixing one problem at the cost of causing endless others.

From what I was told by those standing 100 yards away from the incident, a horse had impaled itself in its own horse box and was in considerable distress.

The horsebox was hove to at the left of the inside carriageway of the two-lane road. A road patrol had positioned itself astride the two lanes with a sign warning vehicls not to pass. The tailbacks stretched back for miles.

There was, of course, room to get past but emergency staff wouldn't hear of it, saying that there were fears that the noise would disturb the horse.

Drivers insisted that vehicles would pass very slowly and very quietly but no, the uniforms were adamant. No-one was to move, yet, throughout the entire two hours of the incident, the traffic on the other, westbound carriageways, thundered by in easy earshot of the suffering horse.

I lost count of the various emergency vehicles that eventually arrived (and had to be paid for) to attend this injured horse in its ordinary horsebox.

But four or five fire appliances with various cranes and other equipment plus vet, supplementary emergency vehicles and traffic management vehicles. If I said at least 40 uniforms turned out I don't think I'd be exaggerating.

To get there some of those vehicles came from the previous junction, driving through the centre of the tailed-back lines of stranded vehicles who were lining the road alternatively on the far left and far right.

Various people suggested that emergency staff could be sighted at either end of a) the incident and b) the previous junction and the traffic allowed to turn round and drive back where they'd come from and off the motorway. But no. The services were intent on their task and remaining totally ignorant of the problems sorting it was causing everyone else.

For instance the many people in danger of missing flight connections from Stanstead.

The couple dashing to see a dying relative in hospital.

The conveyer of a trailer load of 150 poultry which were fast becoming seriously distressed to the point of death in the sun and through lack of water.

And that was only the stories from the front of what seemed an endless queue.

I thought the emergency services were supposed to minimise distress, not act in such a blinkered and ignorant way as to unnecessarily cause far more problems than the one they actually sorted.

At the very least some of the most desperate individuals could have been allowed passage, even if intermitently. After all, it was a considerable amount of time before a vet or suitable vehicle movers were on site to do anything much for the horse.

I was stuck in this too Thracian. You are telling me I was held up for TWO HOURS because of a suffering horse taking up one lane?

[Guest]

Was anyone else caught up in the ridiculous chaos on the A14 this morning when thousands were held up for two hours because of a horse?

No.

[Jay]

Over here that horse would be pretty close to ending up as a sausage, and the only piling up of cars would be people ready for a snack.

Brilliant!!! that will be the Nordic Hunter instincts coming out I guess

[stez]

you should join the police, so you can put them right on everything.

[Katy]

Luckily no, went from Northampton so joined the A14 several junctions later. Sounded like an absolute nightmare.

[Granno]

Luckily no, went from Northampton so joined the A14 several junctions later. Sounded like an absolute nightmare.

All the city fans made the most of it, chanting at anything they could!

[Thracian]

you should join the police, so you can put them right on everything.

There's always someone who would make veiled excuses for those in authority even if they were shooting mothers and children.

Perhaps that's why we now have emergency services who habitually ignore the bigger picture and so often compound the problems of a situation rather than minimising them.

[Bryn]

Was the horse ok?

[stez]

There's always someone who would make veiled excuses for those in authority even if they were shooting mothers and children.

Perhaps that's why we now have emergency services who habitually ignore the bigger picture and so often compound the problems of a situation rather than minimising them.

when did a distressed horse become a shot mother and child?

and it was an excuse for nothing it was a suggestion that you do something instead of coming on here moaning about how things would be so much better, if only they did it your way.

[James.]

I can think of hundreds of things more important than some stupid traffic jam. I would have thought someone of your years would have enough perspective to avoid making a traffic jam sound like a life changing catastrophe. Unless of course you're being sensationalist just to pick a(nother) fight.

[Granno]

Was the horse ok?

Had to be put down.

[Thracian]

when did a distressed horse become a shot mother and child?

and it was an excuse for nothing it was a suggestion that you do something instead of coming on here moaning about how things would be so much better, if only they did it your way.

I don't recall it being an option for any member of the public to "do something" but that shouldn't offer licence to those who are handsomely paid to deal with such situations to do so in a manner than causes more problems than were ever necessary.

[Thracian]

I can think of hundreds of things more important than some stupid traffic jam. I would have thought someone of your years would have enough perspective to avoid making a traffic jam sound like a life changing catastrophe. Unless of course you're being sensationalist just to pick a(nother) fight.

I'm quite certain it became a life-changing catastrophe for some of the in-transit poultry which were becoming distressed even after 45 minutes in worsening conditions, never mind two hours.

[James.]

[AoWW]

I'm quite certain it became a life-changing catastrophe for some of the in-transit poultry which were becoming distressed even after 45 minutes in worsening conditions, never mind two hours.

Roast chicken sarnie, anyone?!

You missed a trick there, Thrac - could have been a nice little money-earner.

[stez]

I don't recall it being an option for any member of the public to "do something" but that shouldn't offer licence to those who are handsomely paid to deal with such situations to do so in a manner than causes more problems than were ever necessary.

obviously i didn't mean wade in and do something the other day, i'm not that fucking stupid. but you come on here with all the answers top everything, surely you'd be better served in some position of authority, where you can put all your answers to the worlds woes into action.

i know you'll pick up on the small piece of this post which i added purely for the sake of irony.

[Edmund]

i know you'll pick up on the small piece of this post which i added purely for the sake of irony.

No capitals

[stez]

No capitals

yeah that one as well