Drivers tell of shock as objects thrown at cars from a bridge over the A3 in Hampshire
Imagine the shock while you’re driving along a road to suddenly have a rock thrown at your car. That’s what happened to drivers last week on the A3 in Hampshire.
During the first week of the school holidays there have been numerous reports of rocks being thrown from a pedestrian bridge over the A3 in Petersfield.
Two of the incidents took place last Thursday evening (24 July). Sławosz was travelling from Camberley to Fareham, when he drove under the bridge at around 5.20pm. He said:
“There was a very loud, very scary bang. I pulled up onto the grass verge and called the police. There was glass everywhere. Police said to stay with the vehicle, and they would come and assist. I looked around and saw two teenagers on the bridge; they ran away.
“I can’t imagine for one moment that the teenagers involved were trying to kill anyone but that could easily have been the consequences of their actions.”
He added: “There’s a fine line between wrong and right, and there’s a difference between having fun and killing someone. That kind of ‘entertainment’ could kill someone.”
Caption: Over £800 of damage was caused to the car, including a smashed windscreen
Petersfield resident Dan French’s son Jake, who’s in his twenties, suffered a similar devastating experience when travelling back from work the same day.
“The fright my son was put through plus the danger of having to stop on a live carriageway is unacceptable,” said Dan.
“As a parent, I would urge others to take an interest in what their children are doing and discourage this kind of behaviour. The potential consequences don’t bear thinking about.”
He added: “My son relies on his car to get to work in Chessington. He’s out of pocket as unable to commute whilst it’s awaiting repair, and he’s having to pay £150 excess towards the claim for the windscreen.”
England’s motorways and major A-roads are some of the safest in the world and National Highways’ ambition remains that no-one should be harmed while travelling or working on them.
Colin Evans, Regional Safety Programme Manager for National Highways in the Southeast, said:
"Road safety is a shared responsibility and the implications of throwing any object from a bridge onto the carriageway could have catastrophic consequences. It's extremely lucky than no-one has been harmed because of these mindless acts.”
Chief Inspector Alex Charge, District Commander for East Hants and Havant, said: “We are aware of several reports of young people throwing rocks at cars from bridges over the A3 in Petersfield.
“This is extremely dangerous and puts motorists at serious risk of harm. Fortunately, no one has been injured, but vehicles have been damaged, and the community is rightly concerned about this.
“We encourage parents to speak to their children about the very real and significant consequences of engaging in this type of behaviour.
“Our officers will be paying particular attention to this area whilst on patrol. Anyone with information about this type of behaviour, or anyone involved, should report this to the police.”
Police enquiries remain ongoing. Anyone with any information about these incidents or any other similar incident should contact Hampshire Police quoting reference: 44250332094.
Notes to Editors
National Highways is the wholly government-owned company responsible for modernising, maintaining and operating England’s motorways and major A roads.
Real-time traffic information for England’s motorways and major A roads is available via the Traffic England website, local and national radio travel bulletins, electronic road signs and mobile apps. Local Twitter services are also available.
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