This evening my friend Will and I went out to a quiet country pub in Parkgate, Wirral. It was a beautiful warm summers evening so we ate out dinner outside as the sun went down, just kicking back having a mellow evening before we head to London tomorrow for the motor show. We weren’t expecting to get a motor show of an entirely different kind after dinner though.
As we pulled out of the Boat House pub and headed up the road we heard an almighty noise coming toward us. As the vehicle approached we realised the small Ford Ka was running on just three wheels with sparks flying from the offside front and nothing whatsoever left of the tyre or much of the bodywork of the car in that area.
It seemed pretty obvious to me that the female driver was most likely drunk but more than anything she was about to head into a popular area for people enjoying ice cream on such an evening, and therefore she had to be stopped.
Quickly I span the car around and sped after her. A motorcycle was already chasing her flashing his lights and waving. As she rounded the corner onto the main road of parkgate front the motorcycle attempted to get in front of her. Pedestrians stood in amazement as the three of us drove down the road and sparks flew from her grounded vehicle.
Eventually the motorcycle was able to move in front of her and slow her dramatically at which point on the narrow road I took the opportunity to pass her quickly then stop abruptly in front of her in the middle of the road. She came to a complete stop when she thudded the back of my car right in front of people sat out front of the Red Lion pub enjoying an otherwise quiet evening drink.
Instantly I jumped out of my car and ran up to hers opening the door, grabbing her hand as she restart stalled motor. She looked surprised to see me, and it was very clear she was drunk. As she then attempted to restart her car and carry on I decided she needed not to be behind the wheel any longer. She wasn’t all that receptive to the idea of vacating her vehicle so I removed her from the car and took her to the side of the road where I explained to her that she wouldn’t be driving any further. I had her car keys anyway so she wasn’t going to get far without them, and in truth she wasn’t going to get far in her car at any rate.
She then went inside the Red Lion pub and sat down. The manager gave her a glass of water and sat with her to calm her down. The woman was upset about something to do with Dogs and not being able to cope with them? The manager of the bar wanted to call the woman’s husband but I managed to persuade her that although I understood her intentions were well meaning this might make an already sketchy situation far more volatile as we would have no way of knowing how her husband would react and from my point of view it seemed like the whole drunken driving incident might have been fueled by an earlier domestic situation.
Eventually the Police arrived and arrested the woman who was barely able to walk. After a brief chat with the cop my friend Will and I walked back to the car and Will said “There is never a dull moment with you mate!” Funny, I thought, a lot of people say seem to say that.
Wrote the following comment on Jul 25, 2006 at 9:22 am
Good work mate! Looks like you did what you had to do…I like involvement in life, you cannot always sit back and see if someone else will do something.
Wrote the following comment on Jul 25, 2006 at 5:13 pm
Simon saves the day!!
Wrote the following comment on Jul 25, 2006 at 5:53 pm
Oh my God!! There truly isn’t a dull moment around you Simon, your life seems full of excitement at all times.
Am I selfish for worrying about what’s going to happen to your car?
Wrote the following comment on Jul 25, 2006 at 6:57 pm
I noticed they have no problem playing “bumper cars” in Paris – didn’t know you Brits did it too. ;-) Jolly good job getting her off the road.
Wrote the following comment on Jul 25, 2006 at 10:04 pm
You’re Batman!
Wrote the following comment on Jul 26, 2006 at 4:48 am
LOL, hardly batman Clay :-)
As for my car, it really didn’t suffer any damage. The bumper did its job and a little polish will sort it right out. I’m not going to add that to the already very long list of things she’ll get convicted on. The cops are coming to my apartment on Thursday to get a statement from me just as soon as I get back from London.
Wrote the following comment on Jul 26, 2006 at 5:09 pm
That is quite a story and it reminds me of a similar incident that happened to me many years ago. I wasn’t the one driving, like you, I was the witness. I may post about it soon because it is too long to leave in a comment.
I’m very glad you stopped her. Good job!
Wrote the following comment on Jul 27, 2006 at 11:41 am
The most exciting thing to happen to me recently was the car crash I was in last year! Lol.
Give us some of your life Simon! :o)