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General => General discussion => Topic started by: Bellend on 03 February 2014, 23:59
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Without going into details. Saturday 2:30 am. Side of motorway, driver to a point he can no longer drive and needs to get to A&E.
No hard shoulder so car rammed half in lane 1 and half on some grass. Everyone out the car immediately.
Fairly sober but very very very much over the limit and also uninsured driver takes over in a very safe manner for quite a few miles to next turn off where ambulance called.
It's not hot anyone in any trouble but caused a stir amongst parents etc.
Would you have done it and would said person even get prosecuted in such circumstances?
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Without going into details. Saturday 2:30 am. Side of motorway, driver to a point he can no longer drive and needs to get to A&E.
No hard shoulder so car rammed half in lane 1 and half on some grass. Everyone out the car immediately.
Fairly sober but very very very much over the limit and also uninsured driver takes over in a very safe manner for quite a few miles to next turn off where ambulance called.
It's not hot anyone in any trouble but caused a stir amongst parents etc.
Would you have done it and would said person even get prosecuted in such circumstances?
driving while over the limit is f**king stupid if you ask me no matter how short the journey :angry: and with a few police members a hope they see this an throw the book at whoever it was
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Surely a call to 999 would have been a better option? In that situation (car stranded on motorway and lives potentially at risk) the emergency services would have been there pretty quickly. If everyone was safely out of the car, why risk getting back into a car with someone over the limit?!
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id have done it, sounds a lot safer than being stuck on the motorway with no hard shoulder, even with a hard shoulder it is a very dangerous place! I'd rather be banned from driving than dead.
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100% wrong, just because you were lucky and got away with it unharmed doesn't make it any less wrong.
You should have phoned 999 from where you were and not risked the lives of anyone else?
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Hmm good points.
Was extremely fecking dangerous where the car was and no crash barrier to hide from so was either wait far away from the car and hope no one comes off the motorway or stand by the car and hope no one smashed it into us.
I guess it's a hard thing to judge without being there but I'd probably have done the same....
Was a risk leaving the car where it was also, sweeping bend. Not blind but still only takes a second for a car to plow into it then a lorry into the back of that.
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I would have done it after a few pints if it was only to the next junction or what not, I would have spoken to the police about the matter if it came to that and I would be fairly confident that they would not prosecute. I know plenty of people who have got off charges due to exceptional circumstances.
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Yeah was literally to next junction and ambulance plus a sober driver down to take the car and passengers back!
Just caused mixed stirs with people. Some people saying they'd have driven to the hospital some saying morons etc.
Mind you it would take 30 seconds for someone to crash into it and maybe 6 mins for the police to arrive?
Ah well
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can see both sides of the argument.
takes 2 mins for the driver over the limit to drive to the next junction...
but equally it couldve taken him 10 seconds to crash that car, kill all occupants and other road users...
but equally it couldve taken 10 seconds for a lorry to hit that car and the car to bounce off into the partys at the side of the road...
personally i wouldnt have driven. i wouldve tried to get the car as far off the road as possible, even if it did some minor damage, hazards on, rear fogs on maybe depending on light conditions etc to give a little more visability. then everyone out of the car and as far away as possible and also behind the broken down car... if someone hits the car its going to go forwards, if your stood behind it, theres no chance of that car hitting you just a chance of the car trying to avoid hitting it hitting you, so stand as far from the road as possible.
but... as long as all parties are ok thats the main thing
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Like to know where this "Motorway" is that has no hard shoulder!
It cannot be a motorway without a hard shoulder!
In some circumstances when a motorway has been widened and a bridge say hasnt there will be a short stretch of road without a hard shoulder but there wont be any grass at those points!
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How can you say that he takes over driving in a very safe manor? If your over the limit you should not be driving full stop.
His intentions may have been admiral but he took a massive risk with his life and other drivers on the road. Lets say he had been involved in a smash then you could be looking at fatalities and a prison sentence let alone a driving ban. He clearly didnt think about the wider consequences.
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It was a stupid thing to do drive drunk but depending on the condition of the driver (which you don't say about ) should he /she been driving if unwell and how far on the motorway had you driven before getting to the point you were at ?eg had you passed a junction previously that you could have got off motorway .
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Driver had a turn due to a head injury a couple hours previous. In hindsight shouldn't have driven but felt find bar a headache!
Person wasn't drunk as such and can handle alcohol well. In fact I'd bet nobody bar the smell of drink would be able to tell he'd even had a drink!
Hard one. I guess risk taken and happy ending.
Question, if he hadn't had a drink but still uninsured, what then?
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I'd still drive.
what if he was getting sucked off by a midget?
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Remember folks, if you're going to drink and drive... Take your car!
Thom
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Two wrongs don't make a right....
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So original driver was sober, but had a head injury that was getting worse?
Second driver was drunk and not insured for the car? Were they insured on their own car? If they were, that might cover them for an emergency trip.
The last time I had 3rd Party F&T insurance (a few years ago from Elephant), it didn't cover general use of another car, but would cover driving someone elses car in an emergency. So if that was the case, he'd have been fine insurance wise.
As for being drunk, then he'd have to deal with that if the police got involved. And if they didn't get involved or suspect he was drunk enough to breathalise him, then they wouldn't be able to prove it unless they tested his blood-alcohol level within a certain time of the incident.
Maybe moving the car off the road onto the grass would have been a better option, you would have been seen on CCTV anyway and they would have dispatched someone to check it out.
You do the best you can and given the options available, you make the choice you think is best at the time.
Has the person with the head injury recovered?
Are the police involved?
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I think we can all agree that this has been taken in two concepts.
However, imho i would not of driven hell i wont drive even if i have had a half pint. I wont risk it and never will, lost someone close that drunk drove. Personally i would of called the police, ensured that they are fully aware of the importance of the situation and waited.
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Original driver totally sober, not a single drink.
Second quite possibly has third party cover but at the time assumed none.
No police involved at all.
Person recovered fine.
Impossible to get it right off the road unfortunately other than going down a deep ditch!
I guess the thread is irrelevant along with the parents/others opinions as all very easy to say things, different when you have someone throwing up and in a right state on the side of the motorway, with lorries inching away from the car, in the dark on a slight bend.
I'd have done the same I think.