National Highways has released new footage capturing a series of frightening near misses for traffic officers and road workers due to dangerous drivers.

The footage includes a driver breaking free from a rolling road block and heading for an M6 exit slip

Cameras captured one traffic officer jumping onto a verge as a speeding vehicle headed towards her, a car careering through the middle of roadworks and one vehicle ignoring a road block and almost hitting a traffic officer at the scene.

The footage – shared to mark Respect our Workforce Week (11-15 March 2024) – highlight the risks that road workers face.

National Highways is urging people to think carefully about their actions or face the consequences.

Having suffered two frightening near misses on the M6 in the West Midlands, National Highways traffic officer Michel Reitsma said: “We don’t stop traffic for the sake of it, we are trying to keep the area safe. You are trying to do your job, trying to help people and protect them and there are some with a mindset to be abusive or behave recklessly. It is just not necessary.”

In the first incident, an impatient driver decided to ignore a road block at junction 6 Spaghetti Junction and go around the traffic officer vehicle – nearly hitting Reitsma in the process as he was getting out of his car.

In the second incident, near junction 10 (Walsall), Reitsma was leading a rolling road block because of a broken-down vehicle ahead. Again, a driver broke free and got ahead of the traffic officer vehicle.

Reitsma believes such dangerous incidents, and the abuse traffic officers receive, is getting worse. In the six years he has been a traffic officer he has been physically threatened or even attacked.

Reitsma explained: “I don’t want to stop traffic, I want to get it moving as soon as possible. But I want to get traffic going safely, safety is paramount.”

Footage from the incidents was shared with the police to pursue prosecutions. Traffic officers now use body cameras, in addition to vehicle cameras, making it easier to capture incidents of both dangerous driving and abuse.

Reitsma thinks it is important to send out a message to the minority of drivers who do so.

“It is in the highway code that people have to respond to our instructions but they don’t always. They think ‘it is only a traffic officer’ and that they can do anything they like. Only when they are fined do some people realise it is illegal and also that it is not acceptable to be abusive to traffic officers who are just doing their job.”

National Highways has also published a video showing traffic officer Pippa Barnes, who is based at Watford Gap in the East Midlands, running to the verge to avoid being hit by one vehicle when she attended an incident involving a broken-down vehicle on the A45.

Barnes said: “I am mindful, as all traffic officers are, of working in a live lane and what could happen. We do everything we can, we follow all of the rules around visibility. We put out signs and cones, we use signals and close lanes if we can. A-roads don’t have the technology of the main motorways and people don’t always anticipate there could be an obstruction.

“All we ask is that people are vigilant and realise that their journey isn’t always going to be straightforward, that things happen and there may be obstructions on the route. Think ahead, not just to the end of the bonnet.”

Meanwhile, footage has also been shared of a vehicle which drove through the middle of roadworks at a traffic island on the A5 despite a number of workers being in the road.

National Highways director of health, safety and wellbeing Mel Clarke said: “Nobody should have to go to work knowing they may be at risk because of the reckless, thoughtless and dangerous actions of some people.

“Whilst most drivers respect the efforts of road workers who are out there day and night to enhance, maintain and keep our roads safe and running – there are a minority that choose to disrespect these key workers.

“The safety and wellbeing of our own workforce and our supply chain workers is an absolute priority. Anyone who puts that safety at risk either intentionally or carelessly should be aware that it will not be tolerated and we will work with police to take action against those who do so.”