Over the weekend the M42 motorway near Bromsgrove was closed for approximately 27 hours whilst local police tried to dissuade a man from throwing himself off a motorway bridge. They succeeded in their efforts but not before the incident had caused severe traffic chaos, a complete shutdown of roads in the local area and many instances of people stuck immobile in their vehicles for as long as 6 hours.

A row has broken out following the posting of tweets and messages on various  social media by people affected by the incident urging the man to jump so that they could all get on with their journeys and daily business. In response, the local Police Chief has accused them of insensitivity and a lack of compassion which is fair enough; surely nobody could really wish death upon such an unfortunate and clearly disturbed person?

Putting all that to one side however, it’s easy to see why people would be infuriated by the incident. They are entitled to ask why it took so long for the matter to be brought to a conclusion. For example, couldn’t the Police have arranged for netting or inflatable plastic/rubber to be placed under the bridge to stop the man’s fall? Couldn’t a couple of lorries be placed underneath the bridge to reduce the height of the drop? Don’t  the Police have experts available to deal with such incidents?  Should it really have taken well-over a day to bring the matter to a conclusion? What about the pandemonium  caused to the rest of the populace? All these questions deserve answers.