ADUK Archive

I've just got home from our local IAM Group meeting. Whilst driving home passed the Hull Royal Infirmary a Calibra travelling in the opposite direction suddenly swerved across the road mounted a Pelican crossing refuge in the middle of the road and took out the railings and traffic lights which came crashing down onto the road. All of this plus the car came to rest about six feet away from me.

Once I'd collected my thoughts I put my hazards on and walked over to the car to see if anyone was injured (the front of the car was practically non existent) but amazingly 5 youths climbed out with no apparent injuries. All five of them were of (how can I put it diplomatically) Eastern Euoropean descent. I walked back to my car got my mobile out and rang 999 then they started threatening me not to ring the police as they had no insurance (and probably no license or tax either).

Thankfully the police were on the scene in minutes and rounded up four of them.

Whilst telling the officer about what had happend and how they had threatend me not to ring the police he had a big grin on his face as they apparently could'nt understand english.

Why the car swerved I don't know. Perhaps drink or drugs were involved. No other vehicles were involved.

The uncanny thing was the guest speaker at the meeting was from a insurance broker and one of the topics was uninsured drivers


Mike

At least your ok Mike, and no one else is hurt.

Without wishing to sound racist, this seems to be becoming a tad of a problem....foriegn drivers .

Thanks Nigel. Yeah, skin of my teeth springs to mind. I could'nt believe it when these youths climbed out, I thought typical as soon as I saw them no insurance etc. Without being too dramatic another few seconds earlier and I would have copped for the lot. Thankfully there was no-one on that central refuge as they would'nt have stood a chance.
As they say 'always expect the unexpected'.

Mike

Glad you're ok Mike...

Lets hope his written English is better than some on this thread...
Only joking Nige...

Well done - sounds like you did all you could...did the andrenalin kick in afterwards? I remember witenessing a fatal accident on the motoroway many years ago and had to get my wife to continue the drive as I didn't feel safe.

Why do you suppose did the gentlemen hang around for the police rather than legging it?

Hello Mike - I'm glad you're OK but it sounds like a very upsetting incident all the same.

Best wishes all,
Dave.

Nigel wrote:At least your ok Mike, and no one else is hurt.

Without wishing to sound racist, this seems to be becoming a tad of a problem....foriegn drivers .

Some friends of mine are involved with the official "befriending" scheme run by the local authorities, trying to provide friendship, mediation, advice etc. for asylum seekers / immigrants / other related groups and I went to one of their briefing meetings once. The subject of "furriners driving without licenses" came up and the nice lady said that actually a lot of the time the primary problem is that a driving license from many other countries are only valid in this country for a certain period (2 years?) by which time you're expected to have passed a DSA test and have an EU license. Many people coming into the country speak only limited English and are told "Your driving license is valid" and miss the "for two years" and so don't twig they're illegal until it's too late.

Of course, these chaps appeared to be aware of the illegality of the situation, so they fall into the category of needing to be educated about *why* they should be insured or not drive.

Just wanted to point out there may be something relatively inoffensive behind the perception. It's worth pointing out that the human brain's propensity to pattern-spot may be making it look like there's a pattern where there isn't of course. I'd love to see statistics to see whether furriners really are overrepresented in uninsured driving stats...

Cheers & God bless
Sam "SammyTheSnake" Penny

Roadcraft wrote:Glad you're ok Mike...

Lets hope his written English is better than some on this thread...
Only joking Nige...

I can't find the "stick two fingers up at your mate" smiley

Nigel wrote:At least your ok Mike, and no one else is hurt.

Without wishing to sound racist, this seems to be becoming a tad of a problem....foriegn drivers .

Now you will appreciate how the Spanish feel at all you Brits driving in the outside lane of the motorway at 120kph, and they KNOW that they can legally overtake at 140kph!

Different cultures - different rules.

Picking up the thread on validity of licences, any EU licence is valid in the UK without the need for renewal. Licences fron Vienna Convention countries should be freely exchangeable for a UK licence without the need for a retest. Other countries licences are valid for up to ONE year if accompanied by an International Driving Permit, after which the test must be taken.

manilva15b wrote:Different cultures - different rules.

Yes, but I prefer the old adage of...

"When in Rome do as Romans do."

...and I do not really mean driving scooters at 100 Kph across junctions