During my drive home on Thursday 8th December I had the misfortune to witness a near road traffic accident between a car and pedestrian. The pedestrian decided to run from my side of the road to the other side. Unfortunately the road, although deemed a single carraigeway, is wide enough for four cars to travel alongside simultaneously.
I anticipated his actions and slowed accordingly, but the car coming the opposite way could not. It was dark and the point where he decided to try and make a run for it is near to a sweeping bend. He saw the oncoming car, hesitating for a moment, the tried to make his mad dash. It was now realised that he wasn’t quite as fast as Usain Bolt and tried to stop himself so the car could pass. Unfortunately the road was wet and he quickly slipped on to his arse, with some force too! He pulled his sprawled left leg close. How the driver of the other car didn’t run over this leg was a miracle!
The driver rightly pulled over and the lad got to his feet and hobbled to the other side of the road. From what I saw no contact was made between the parties, so no real accident took place. Nonetheless I too stopped and offered my details to the other driver. She wasn’t at fault in any way, and as such I reassured her of that fact. I left it up to her whether she wanted to call the police; I suggested she should. The pedestrian was now complaining of a sore ankle and his friends were also gathering around him.
Why did I do this good deed? Well in these lean times we will all do whatever we can to make a bit of extra money. If this chap decided to call a rent-a-witness, so he could blame the other driver, then why should he be allowed to make a claim when this situation was all his fault? If he did successfully make any claim then it woudl result in an increase of that poor drivers premiums for next year, and vicariously every other road user’s insurance. You never know, he may not be so unscrupulous to do so and will just accept the fact that he was an idiot in the first instance!
