Decided to change the post as some parts of it could be misconstrued.
This is a brief account of our journey home from Welly (after enjoying the Chinese New Year Celebrations) at around 17:30. We were traveling along State Highway 1 (Motorway) in the rain when we had to slow down due to some eratic lane changing ahead.
This was down to a drunk driver who was weaving from side to side across both lanes at 20Km/hr. We managed to keep going at this speed and stopped other drivers trying to overtake. I asked my wife to call 111 and get Police to stop the driver.
I think she must have got hold of a newbie at the Call Centre as he advised that she shouldn't be using this number and use 555 in future as 111 was for emergencies. I was getting a tad annoyed by this thinking fine we'll wait for the car to crash and then ask for an ambulance and assume a Police car would turn up too.
A motorcyclist remonstrated with the driver trying to get him to pull over (we were still traveling at 20Km/hr while the driver S'd down the road). No joy the car sped up to around 80Km/hr and I thought this is it - road carnage ahead.
Meanwhile the phone call continued....
At the next junction he left the motorway and got back on heading south back into Welly. I was getting extremely concerned that there would be a pile up as the speed of the traffic flow was 100Km/hr and we were heading into the Nguaranga Gorge so if another car lost control in the wet then we would be in serious danger too.
Anyway after 15 minutes on the phone the Police arrived and managed to get the driver to pull over. I was peeved over a number of things,
- The fact that other drivers were happy to negotiate their way past the drunk and continue with their lives.
- The perceived delay for assistance. 15 minutes of excitement that we could have done without.
- He was actually a she. I assumed it was some old codger or a very young youth not a women in her early 20's.
I was certain there was going to be a crash as the traffic was heavy given that that family day out (New Year Celebrations) had just finished.
I have only every seen this type of driving on TV shows such as Police Camera Action. No helicopter flying overhead with infra red camera rolling just me with my hazards on waving my arm out of the window like a right twat trying to slow the traffic down.
I hope the transcript of the phone call will be used as a training tool. The use of Anglo-Saxon from myself was probably an education in itself.
It that wasn't enough -
Erebus air investigator killed by car - New Zealand, world, sport, business & entertainment news on Stuff.co.nz
An utter waste of human life! The fatality happened on the main road which leads to where we live and we had to explain to the kids why the road was closed.
The media has reported that the 18 year old driver lost control of his V8 Ford Falcon - which was traveling up hill on a steep gradient - and lost control.
I have tempted to post some other motoring incidents I have witnessed in the past but words cannot adequately describe the events as they unfolded.