Drivers across large parts of the UK experienced a stressful Christmas Day as emergency phones along motorways stopped working. The outage affected the northeast, northwest, East Midlands, and east of England, raising serious safety concerns on busy holiday routes.
National Highways, the organisation responsible for UK motorways, acknowledged the disruption was due to “technology issues”. They advised travellers not to panic and to use their mobile phones to contact the customer service centre if they encountered any problems.
The fault was resolved around 4:45 pm, providing much-needed relief to motorists who had been affected by the outage.
Jon Allen, National Network Manager at National Highways, reassured the public that traffic officers were actively patrolling the roads and were prepared to assist with any breakdowns immediately.
National Highways emphasised that while emergency phones are important safety features, most breakdown calls are made via mobile phones. Importantly, no “safety-critical technology” failed during the incident, ensuring that road user safety was maintained throughout the outage.
Originally published by UKNIP.
