Well done for surviving.

Even better for surviving intact.

I presume that he will claim diplomatic immunity and be shipped back to the "land of the (formerly) free" to escape retribution.

 

... but now it's over, and you have changed out of your brown trousers, how about getting back to posting pictures in the Gaydon thread for those of us who were forced to miss the day!

 

For that, you'll have to await, and rely on @Villanova27, who was busy snapping away while I was more interested in coffee and breakfast

 

Glad you came away from that unscathed.
It seems like something easily avoidable if the Toyota driver respected the laws. Judging by the lack of particulars he obviously doesn’t.
I wonder if he will face the law in the same way you and I would?

 

Wow! Just wow! Glad everyone is ok.

 

Holy dog dirt !

That was a close thing.

What on earth was he thinking ?

Very lucky to have missed the pole and the support wire and not turned the car over.

Are the police involved ?

 

Yes, they drive among us. From what I gather, Murkins get given their 'driver's license' around the time of their school prom based on third-world level test standards, though I'd imagine that stringency would also vary by State and local road complexity. Difficult to develop driving skills out in the boonies. Many then find the UK test (required after a year if they move here) to be something of a challenge, according to various Youtubes wot I have seen.

Bad though it is, it's not guns or arbitrary imprisonment of tourists that's the biggest risk going over there, but their utterly appalling driving standards and crap road design like four way junctions instead of roundabouts. Road deaths per 100000 inhabitants is 2.6 here vs 14.2 in the US. Even Russia is better than that, though South Africa is scarier still. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_traffic-related_death_rate

 

I presume that he will claim diplomatic immunity and be shipped back to the "land of the (formerly) free" to escape retribution.

Doesn't sound like he'll need to

I wonder if he will face the law in the same way you and I would?

That would require someone enforcing it

Are the police involved ?

The lady in the other car is an NHS home care nurse, and was on her way to a home visit. She had to call in to say she would be late, and could someone else step in incase she didn't make it at all, and after explaining what had happened, was advised by whoever she spoke to, to call the police.
Their immediate response was that as no one was hurt, he didn't hit anyone or anything, and they didn't have any patrol cars in the area, there wasn't much they could do there and then. When she told them the chap was an American serviceman, they lost all and any interest, and suggested she call the base police at lakenheath.
By this time, it was getting cold, and late, and a chap from a nearby house was sorting a tractor to pull the 4x4 out of the ditch as it wouldn't drag itself out, we decided to call it quits and go home. She said she might follow it up today as she had lost her hours and call out for the home visit, so was out of pocket and wasn't sure if she could claim any of that back if she pursued things, and that's how we left things. It wasn't until we got home that Mrs O checked the Tax and MOT status of his vehicle.
i don't see any point at all in me pursuing it any further, as all that's going to do is cause me more hassle than it's worth. I have absolutely nothing to gain, even if anyone could be bothered to charge him with any of the offences he'd committed

 

Norfolkshire Constabulary do have a Dashcam Dob Them In webpage thing. I think you have to upload the entire file, but that should be OK, provided you weren't discussing the violent overthrow of Parliamentary Democracy on your way home, which may also be taken into account as part of their investigations.

 

This is why, on my next dashcam, I will turn off the "show registration" and "show speed" options.

 

'kin ell i'd of needed a change of underwear after that..

 

I think the old cat lost at least one of it's nine lives yesterday

Had a lovely day at The British motor museum for the JDHT Jaguars at Gaydon day, ogling over lots of lovely Jag's, and even got to see the 'Marmite' type 00 concept car close up, but all too soon, it was time to make our way back to Norfolk.
The first 100 odd miles went well enough, traffic not too bad, and always a pleasure to be in the S type, but then, within about 5 miles from home, it all so nearly went VERY VERY wrong
For reasons I'm sure you'll all understand, I'm not wanting to put the dashcam footage in the public domain, at least for now, but I can share a few still captures from it to give an idea of just how close we came to what could have been a pretty bad outcome.

At this point, we're coming up to a junction that we need to turn left at, the first car coming the other way wants to turn right, into the same road. The lady driving it probably had time to turn in front of me, but decided to err on the side of caution, and wait
View attachment 101247

Here, I realised the car behind her wasn't going to stop, and I thought was going to hit her
View attachment 101248

But instead, came flying past, and I hit the brakes a bit sharpish
View attachment 101249

View attachment 101250


At this stage, both Mrs O and myself though it was going to plough straight into us
View attachment 101251

But somehow, it missed us by the narrowest of margins
View attachment 101252

View attachment 101253

View attachment 101254

And ended up in the ditch beside and behind us
View attachment 101257

View attachment 101258



Also missing the sign posts, and squeezing between the telegraph pole and it's support cable

The driver works for Uncle Sam on one of the local USAF bases, the vehicle has no MOT or tax, and he had his wife in the passenger seat, and young baby in a child seat in the back.

Words fail me!

OW

All in the flash of a couple of seconds

Bloody shame about the lady losing out on her wages, but when all is said and done mighty glad no one was hurt.

 

Wow. Glad you're both OK & hope that you both get over the shock quickly.

Best wishes
Simon

 

Crivens. Assuming your paint survived, I'd be inclined to offer them a fee to not submit that to their insurers/police....

 

I think we'll settle with just being thankful that no one was hurt, and no 'innocent parties' cars or property was damaged.

It could have been so much worse.

 

If he's no Tax/MOT he's not insured. He shouldn't be on the road. At all. If he drives that way it's just going to be someone else that gets hit :/

 

Oh, I agree, but what can one do?

I have looked, and Norfolk plod want chapter and verse below, and I suspect from previous experience, 'last seen in a ditch near Southery' won't satisfy their vehicle location criteria,

Before you start
You'll need:

• vehicle registration number
• make
• model
• colour
• location of the vehicle

We'll also ask you for:

• your name and contact details

If you do not want to give us your name, you can report this anonymously to Crimestoppers.

So you go to Crimestoppers site, and the first thing you are presented with is an 'INFORMATION WE CANNOT PROCESS' section, which includes 'untaxed vehicles' and 'minor traffic offences', and even if you ignore that and click on 'Give information here', you get asked What is the crime or incident you would like to tell us about? with a drop down menu that doesn't include any options for reporting a vehicle with no MOT, but does have a 'Vehicle' category. I go for that, and then it wants me to answer questions that I don't have the answers for, so I can go no further


It's almost like they make it deliberately difficult to report something that might give them some work to do

As said earlier, all I can see in trying to pursue this any further is a load of hassle for me with nothing at all to gain, and the chances of any action being brought against our colonial friend are virtually non existent.

It may be the wrong attitude, but I just can't be bothered to get further involved.

 

Local rag, perhaps?

 

Send a copy to the American MPs at the local base. Then will be a record on his military papers.

If they are like the old British MPs in the 1970's they will report to the British police force that he has left the base and eventually he will be stopped.

 

Send a copy to the American MPs at the local base. Then will be a record on his military papers.

USAF Community and Neighborhood Police Mindless Escalation Unit

 

To perpetuate this thread, South on A1 this morning before 8am and roadworks have two lanes merging. Signed up to use both lanes merge in turn etc. Truckie in lane 1 decides he is the traffic police and changes lane to shut the door.

 

To perpetuate this thread, South on A1 this morning before 8am and roadworks have two lanes merging. Signed up to use both lanes merge in turn etc. Truckie in lane 1 decides he is the traffic police and changes lane to shut the door.

P'raps said signs should have been in multiple languages - just wondrin'.

 

The Van will be a total loss i think, we are ok. Thx.

 

Pain in the arse though it is, vans can be replaced. Glad to hear you're both OK.

Another one that could have turned out a lot worse!

 

It Needs sorting . Similar scenario to the US soldiers wife who killed a young Motorcyclist then fled back to USA . Are they trained to drive on the left ? If not they should be before being let loose on our roads . Glad your all ok

 

If we did that in America. The local police would throw the key away.

Laws should be enforced for everybody no matter from where they come from.

When I was about 18. I was in a pub in Highworth which was packed with Americans from Fairford airbase.

A large American soldier was trying to get to bar when he shouted at a small petite women.

"If you don't get out my way I am going to smack you on your fanny ( American for posteria)"

The woman turned around grabbed an handful of his Belly fat and twisted her hand. You can image the result. He basically tried to rotate his body and ended up on the floor.

The police were called who called in the American MP's. They made the soldier apologize to the woman before they marched him off.

They had to do a course back then to learn that English and American do not speak the same language.

I would have loved to have seen their reaction if anybody ever said

"Can I bum a *** off you"