Revolver

I'm actually very boring in person.

My many posts are mass-produced by a diligent team of spider monkeys. :D :D

BVD

Hi again Dave,

Yes, it struck me as interesting that their do-gooding didn't go much further than screaming at the 'evil perpetrator'! They obviously hadn't stopped to offer the crash driver a tow or a lift home.

Thanks for taking the time to post such a long and informed response (should I buy a lottery ticket on the basis that this is as near as I'm ever likely to come to getting some free legal advice. :p :D ) Seriously though, thanks for taking the time to spell out your thoughts.

I think your notion of the domestic dispute fits the case pretty well. I wished afterwards that I'd got a better look at the occupants and what they did when the car came to rest. But there was a bend soon afterwards, and I didn't feel like wandering back for a chat. I can't say why but the whole thing just looked violent and angry, and smashing the car up was not going to be the best thing to calm the driver down.

I'm really not sure how and why it ended up back on the other side of the road, facing the way it had originally started, but it didn't look like it would be drivable for more than a few more feet. I'd say that the left rear rim was cactus and possibly jammed, and there was a fair bit of metal hanging off the side.

Years ago I was in a laundromat and two guys started a hot and strong argument that looked like it was going to come to blows (Over a tumble dryer, would you believe.. ). The younger of the two stormed out and came back holding a metal wheelbrace, and the two shaped up to each other again. I was the only other guy in the place. What to do? Hide behind the nearest woman and shout "don't hit her"?

It was clearly one of those "A man's gotta do what a man's gotta do" moments where I had to decide whether I was going to have to seriously downgrade my Man/Wimp rating.

So I stood up and stepped between them, expecting that I might cop a dose of wheelbrace for my trouble, and said "that's enough guys" or something suitably Sherriffy. Somewhat to my surprise they both backed off (very relieved to have an "out" no doubt). The older bloke walked off muttering something about "If I'd have been twenty years younger, I'd have.... blah ... blah.." while wheelbrace man set next to me for the next half an hour telling me how lucky the guy was he hadn't been drunk, or had his mates from the camp up the road with him, and so on.

So when I saw the smash on Saturday I thought "Hey, a Man's already done what a Man's gotta do. Once is enough". And I kept going.


I admire your calmness. One of the sad thing about the incident I was involved in was that I was yelling as enthusiastically as they were. :o A few years back I would probably have asked them to pull over and talk it out, or just calmly have asked "see any damage then?" or something. When the guy finally said "Ah, chill out" I actually deserved it!

Thanks for cheering me up again everybody. I must make an effort to drop in more often. I really have got a major obsession going with this guitar thing at the moment. It's taken me 2 years to rack up 450 posts here, but I went past 500 at the guitar forum in less than two months! Time to get some balance back.

Cheers, Chris.

bellyboyau

I think you were spot on to report it. The number of times I've had a friend be lightly hit, totally not their fault, no real damage, and therefore not report it to the police, only to be called up after the perpetrator reported it....not funny. In on case (with apologies to the lawyers out there), we're pretty sure that one of the owners used the opportunity to get one of the young lawyers some experience in the courtroom. With the initial report to police, I think they would have been in a much stronger position.

Glad all is cool though, some freakin' weirdos out there....

And I'd heard Perth was the place to be!

capncrunch

Yeah I think you did the right thing, Chris. I would of kept driving too.

I had a nice experience a few years ago driving down tonkin hwy heading north from leach highway entrance. I must have been first to take off from the set of lights or something because I was in the clear with nobody behind me for a while when I notice a VS commodore 'parked' in the island in between the north and south bound lanes, just near the grt eastern hwy overpass I think. This is one of those islands seperating the highway and is rather sandy with lots of shrubbery growing in it. Not a great place to stop.

Anyway so as I approach this car it rapidly shoots across from the island in the middle straight to the emergency lane on my side. Thinking something is not quite right here I slow down a bit and the car makes another dash across the road and into the island in the middle again. It does a 180 in the sand so it's facing the way I'm travelling as I approach, and I've now slowed down to about 60 or so. With cars approaching from the rear and this idiot on the loose I'm wondering what to do. I've gone into the left hand lane to get as far away as possible and I'm almost at the stage of passing it when the driver accelerates and with a crash rams my vehicle on the drivers side.

Of course at this point in time I'm in a bit of shock thinking "wtf?!" then rapidly checking self for any damage - fortunately I was fine. The car glanced off the front drivers door/fender area and proceeded to do another 180 and go back into the island and head south along tonkin. I'm pretty sure they were lining me up for a good old T-Boning but fortunately I kept moving and it was a glancing smash more than anything. I rang the cops on my mobile to report it and they caught them that night I think. A couple of our coloured friends out in a stolen car for a "joy" ride.

oh and missrx8 - I hope it wasn't the 8 you had parked in a carpark? A shopping centre carpark is no place for cars like ours. Mine doesn't go anywhere near one. Full stop.

BVD

Capncrunch,

Geez, that sounded a lot nastier than my momentary heart flutter!

POSTSCRIPT:

I drove down the same road again this morning. About 100m past the spot that I had seen the car lose control there was a huge skid mark in a straight line down one side of the road. On the verge were a small cluster of people who appeared to have just erected a white cross at the roadside, and were laying some flowers.

Apparently, yesterday two cars were racing there at high speed. Somebody pulled out from a side road just as they came over the hill. The racers couldn't stop in time. One of them T-boned the innocent car and killed the driver.

Maybe I'd just stumbled on the local race track for idiots. The car I thought was a regular sedan might have been an SS or something, I know nothing about most modern cars.

Very sad. What a waste of life.

sco

It's a shame such a tragedy makes sense of what happened . I don't know what's like in Perth but here it is relatively cheap and easy to get your car onto a proper race track or dragstrip. Why people have to do this on public roads beats the hell out of me.

Revolver

That's just terrible Chris.

Fair enough if these morons wipe themselves out - I'm sure the human gene pool will only benefit. It is the fact that innocent people get killed by their stupidity that makes me angry.

takahashi

It is terrible indeed.

People just don't know how to share. Those idiots should be lock up forever.