A VERTIGO sufferer has mounted a campaign to bring back a service to help nervous people cross the QE2 bridge and get through the Dartford tunnels.
Vertigo sufferer Jeffrey Goodwin, 60, hasn’t used the 450ft high bridge since the Highways Agency axed its escort patrol service in August.
Until then Jeffrey, and other drivers with a fear of heights, could call for traffic officers to drive in front or behind them while they crossed the bridge.
Patrolmen would even sit in the car to help calm the driver. The same applied to people using the tunnels.
But now Mr Goodwin, who also suffers from claustrophobia so cannot use the tunnels, has teamed up with Albert Smith, from Gillingham, Kent, to spearhead a campaign to get the personal patrols back.
They have set up an online petition at www.radcep.co.uk Mr Goodwin, of Eisenhower Road, Basildon told a reporter that: “When the service was in place it helped my confidence.
“The Highways Agency hasn’t told anyone why it stopped it. A lot of people relied on it.
“If I were to use the tunnels or bridge, I could have a panic attack, and I do not want to get stuck on top of that bridge. That is my biggest nightmare.”
Roger Jones, spokesman for the Highways Agency, said the scrapping of the service brought Dartford in line with similar major river crossings, which did not offer an escorted patrol service.
He also said: “We wrote to drivers who had been accompanied to inform them of the changes.
“Alternative ways of crossing the river are available, such as the Woolwich ferry and Blackwall Tunnel, although we acknowledge these routes will add extra miles to journeys.
“The agency did not take this decision lightly, but road users have a responsibility to themselves.”
Pretty lame excuse from Mr Jones, just because other river crossings did not offer this service is no reason why the Dartford river crossing shouldn’t. I myself suffer from a form of vertigo, although thankfully, the QE2 Bridge does not affect me. It is a very frightening condition, and should not be taken lightly. We pay enough toll money for the tunnel and I think it is right that vertigo sufferers should not have to forgo this particular service, even if it means that sufferers have to pay a little more for it.
Come on Dartford River Crossing Agency, show a little humanity and reinstall this vital service.
‘Road Users have a responsibility to themselves’!!!! How patronising is that? These sorts of roads are being built all the time without taking into consideration how they make the ‘average’ driver feel. We are not all born to ‘cruise’ and just need to go about our daily lives with not too much stress. We are not in the minority when it comes to coping with these horrible stretches of road. Escort services should be in effect for all similar crossings – The Severn Bridge- for example. Why don’t you take advantage of all the ‘qualified’ drivers out there from the Police for example and use them to help the rest of us not become nervous wrecks. Road conditions have changed 100 fold in the last 30 years so it is not being unreasonable to expect help out there.