Highways Officers' Accolade Celebrated

The Highways Agency’s Traffic Officer Service has won a prestigious international road safety award. The Prince Michael International Road Safety Awards recognise outstanding contributions to road safety.

The award was presented yesterday to Simon Sheldon-Wilson, the Highways Agency's Director of Traffic Management, at the Agency’s West Midlands regional control centre in Quinton, Birmingham.

Adrian Walsh, Director at RoadSafe, who presented the award on behalf of Prince Michael of Kent, said:

“Traffic officers make a significant contribution to the safety of our major roads, their presence certainly deters drivers from breaking the law and they are often the first on the scene when a crash occurs.”

Simon Sheldon-Wilson said: “The Traffic Officer Service handles around half a million incidents a year on England’s strategic road network. Our traffic officers are always out on the road network or working in our regional control centres, they attend to vulnerable motorists, make sure that vehicles are recovered, set warning signs and signals and help people involved in collisions and other incidents.

"Traffic officers also play a key role in supporting the emergency services in dealing with incidents on the network.

“Traffic officers work during all hours and in all conditions and are routinely tested by incidents ranging from debris on the carriageway to the effects of the most severe winter conditions in decades. I am very proud of their dedication and professionalism, helping and supporting road users in a range of pressurised and sometimes traumatic circumstances and I’m delighted to accept this prestigious award on behalf of everyone within the Traffic Officer Service.”

Representatives from the Traffic Officer Service will now join around four hundred people and special guests including roads minister Mike Penning at the annual awards ceremony in London, where Prince Michael will announce his 2012 Premier Award.

(BMcC)