Drunk driver on M25 what should I have done?

[SpudGunner]

Last night my wife and I were driving along the M25.
The weather and road conditions were pretty bad due to the rain and spray coming off the road.

In front of us was a people carrier which kept swerving all over the lane and on a number of occasions ended up half in one lane and half in another. He was driving in the middle lane and weaving from one side to the other.

Now whilst I appreciate it was quite hard to see where you were driving, no one else seemed to be having the same problem. I therefore think that they were drunk.

Should you call the police on 999 for something like this? I didnt want to be accused of wasting their time and I wasnt really sure how I could direct the police to him as there was so much traffic on the road.

What could/should I have done? I did flash him a number of times to try and get him to pull over but to no avail.

[Mrs Fish]

I would have called the police anyway with a numberplate and description. If this vehicle then caused an accident there would be other evidence on record that they were driving dangerously.

[mrflibbles]

SpudGunner said:

Last night my wife and I were driving along the M25. The weather and road conditions were pretty bad due to the rain and spray coming off the road. In front of us was a people carrier which kept swerving all over the lane and on a number of occasions ended up half in one lane and half in another. He was driving in the middle lane and weaving from one side to the other. Now whilst I appreciate it was quite hard to see where you were driving, no one else seemed to be having the same problem. I therefore think that they were drunk. Should you call the police on 999 for something like this? I didnt want to be accused of wasting their time and I wasnt really sure how I could direct the police to him as there was so much traffic on the road. What could/should I have done? I did flash him a number of times to try and get him to pull over but to no avail.

I would have dialled 999. It is a potentially serious accident waiting to happen - therefore an emergency.

Probably get fined £30 for using the phone whilst driving though

[kinky]

Happened to me a few times.

I simply called my local station, gave them the details of the car, location, direction, etc and left it at that.

Never ever heard what happened in any of them.

[Big_M]

Definitely call 999. I made the mistake once thinking my neighbour was drunk - he had pranged his car on a wall. I called the police who came out and it turns out he'd had a stroke. I agonised about making the call but so glad I did now.

Sod never thanked me tho'

[tonyrec]

Mrs Fish said:

I would have called the police anyway with a numberplate and description. If this vehicle then caused an accident there would be other evidence on record that they were driving dangerously.

Excellant advice Mrs Fish.
You only have to read the recent threads about the Fataccs on the A40 to know that even the smallest piece of info can be most usefull.

[outlaw]

SpudGunner said:

Last night my wife and I were driving along the M25. The weather and road conditions were pretty bad due to the rain and spray coming off the road. In front of us was a people carrier which kept swerving all over the lane and on a number of occasions ended up half in one lane and half in another. He was driving in the middle lane and weaving from one side to the other. Now whilst I appreciate it was quite hard to see where you were driving, no one else seemed to be having the same problem. I therefore think that they were drunk. Should you call the police on 999 for something like this? I didnt want to be accused of wasting their time and I wasnt really sure how I could direct the police to him as there was so much traffic on the road. What could/should I have done? I did flash him a number of times to try and get him to pull over but to no avail.

which way was he going was it late and what was he driving.
was he heading for the M1

think me ans a m8 bumped into him or another one northbound on the m1

20 mile an hour in the middel lane the he was all over the place

I was prity bad last night I dident get back to about 4am so must have been around 11 or 12 when I saw the muppet.

I it was same one you wouldent need to call the bib as I dout the one I saw would have got home in one bit

he neally got wiped out by a artic when we saw him.

think it was a dark granarder we didnt hang aroung to look too hard just nailed it passed him to safe pastures.

[FunkyNige]

kinky said:

I simply called my local station, gave them the details of the car, location, direction, etc and left it at that.

Am I right in saying you're supposed to phone 999 as the 999 operators can speak directly to squad cars?

[streaky]

mrflibbles said:

... I would have dialled 999. It is a potentially serious accident waiting to happen - therefore an emergency. Probably get fined £30 for using the phone whilst driving though

In such a situation it should () be covered by the exemption: "(5) A person does not contravene a provision of this regulation if, at the time of the alleged contravention -
(a) he is using the telephone or other device to call the police, fire, ambulance or other emergency service on 112 or 999;
(b) he is acting in response to a genuine emergency; and
(c) it is unsafe or impracticable for him to cease driving in order to make the call ... ."

Streaky

[kinky]

FunkyNige said:

Am I right in saying you're supposed to phone 999 as the 999 operators can speak directly to squad cars?

I called my local control room direct. I think the 999 guys will re-direct your call to the control room for that area.

[SpudGunner]

Cheers for your help guys. It was about 5:30pm, he turned off in the end onto the M40.

I really thought that I would get told off for wasting police time, especially with ringing 999.

I followed them at a safe distance and tried to get them to pull over but they were having none of it.

I now know in the future that is ok to make the 999 call.

Thanks for your advice folks.

[Mrs Fish]

tonyrec said:

Mrs Fish said: I would have called the police anyway with a numberplate and description. If this vehicle then caused an accident there would be other evidence on record that they were driving dangerously. Excellant advice Mrs Fish. You only have to read the recent threads about the Fataccs on the A40 to know that even the smallest piece of info can be most usefull.

James speaking:

Totally agree Lisa has come accross a few scroates in her short driving career one car she reported for driving very dangerously and throwing stuff out windows at people, surprising two BiB turned up at the door that evening and took a statement so something must have been up.

Good info is always usefull


>> Edited by Mrs Fish on Sunday 23 November 17:32

[james_j]

It has to be said "as long as they were driving below the posted speed limit..."

Anyway, apart from that, it's a very fine line between reporting what appears to be a drunk driver and bothering the bib with every piece of bad driving you see on the roads. My instinct would be just to keep out of their way.

[SpudGunner]

Trust me I have seen some bad driving in my time, but nothing quite like this.

Yes we have all seen the odd swerve now and again, but this was pretty much constant veering from lane 1 to 2 to 3 and back again without signalling. It made it a bit like an sick arcade game for the rest of the people on the M25. They had to time it right to get past him whilst he veered in the opposite direction!

[Davel]

Certainly call 999

They could kill themselves, you and or anyone else driving in this state.

No sympathies for drunk drivers - get them off the roads

[PetrolTed]

Call 999. If on the M25 then the control room would be able to see the car on their cameras when alerted to it and could then judge for themselves.

There are plenty of muppets really wasting police time. I have no qualms about calling them for genuine dangers. They can then make the decision to attend not me.

[madant69]

Slight thread hijack here but...

I wish people would use the 999 system more. We get people calling the local nick number to report some really serious stuff and by the time it's gone around the houses there's no point in rushing.

I think sometimes the "let's take the pi55 out of people who called 999 because their budgie died" publicity we get causes more harm than good.

In Dorset we would try and keep an informant on the phone to control to get regular updates passed straight to us - not sure if we could do this after Dec 1st though, which would be a shame cause we get some good results from MOP follows sometimes...

[joephandango]

A fella pulled out in front of me a few month back, I only just missed the pr1ck! He happened to be going the same way I was, but he was so obviously smashed. He even overshot a turn so badly his nearside front tyre left a nice mark in some poor feckers front lawn. I took the chance to get in front of his car and stopped him. I briefed the missus to have 999 on the mobile ready to dial and approached him. I told him either get out of the car or I'd call the cops, his choice.
He declined my offer, even getting a bit violent (not really a threat when your would-be assailant can't even stand up). So herself called the cops who were there in record time. I like to think that by stopping him from going any further I not only gave him a chance to cop on, but cut the risk of the b•llix causing a prang. Probably a bit unwise to try that on a motorway tho...

[SpudGunner]

[quote=madant69]Slight thread hijack here but...



I think sometimes the "let's take the pi55 out of people who called 999 because their budgie died" publicity we get causes more harm than good.

quote]

Thats kinda the reason why I wasnt sure whether to ring or not!