Had an unusual and scary occurance this morning driving home. Passed the local drunk staggering up the middle of the road (in the same direction as me however on the other side fortunately...). Problem was it was up a steep hill with lots of blind curves and he was about to be wiped out by the oncoming traffic down it....
I flashed the first car oncoming as a warning and he did miss him thankfully - another 3 cars followed, however didn't see what happened as by then I was round the next bend. Someone's day could have been badly ruined however through no fault of their own....
Did think about stopping to check however there was nowhere really to stop safely quickly - would anyone have done so ?
Steve
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If paid professionals can't go into lakes to rescue drowning kids, either due to rules saying they can't, lack of training or lack of inclination, I do not think that a motorist should consider risking himself and his car by parking dangerously and going to help a drunken pedestrian. Being drunk is not an accident, it happens because somebody chooses to get that way; if they then walk home it is better than driving, but it is a personal and self-generated situation/problem.
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the wife and i (gosh i sound like the queen) pulled a drunk asleep off the main road a couple of years ago and staggered him home,he is now embarassed about the whole thing but undoubteldly saved his life and possibly someone elses
i do remember coming home from the pub in my youth and on my birthday and sitting down in the road on the snow saying i couldnt go no further,my family promptly grabbed my hood on my coat and dragged me up the road like a sleigh till i recalled my senses
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youve never been drunk then AS
as a side effect is that you dont know what you are doing and its easy to get drunk if out with so called pals who think spiking drinks is a fun exercise
first time i went to the pub with work colleagues at the age of 16 they plied me with barley wine and said i would be ok,i didnt know how potent it was and i had a train and a bus to catch to get home and i still wake up in a sweat about that night even now
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No steveb i wouldn't have stopped to run the risk of being mugged/stabbed /beaten senseless and then being arrested for trying to help.
reckon you done ok you managed to miss the twerp and then to warn others can't ask any more these days
ttfn
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Oh Yes I have! But not recently. I think the crux of this is whether to put oneself at risk trying to help a drunk. Your quote about buses and trains home is very valid but not quite the same as walking home down a probably unlit road with no footpath. You were way less at risk on public transport, I'd say, than walking.
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"pals who think spiking drinks is a fun exercise"
One night at Uni friends of mine spiked (only slightly) the beers of someone who didn't drink much. This was someone who was from Pennsylvania and at home had shotguns, and AK47, etc. - we didn't know at the time.
He got back with us and then flipped. Picked up an ordinary fork and said "I'm going hunting". When questioned he stared to say he'd hide in bushes and pounce and then ran out! It took about 12 of us to find and catch him (literally), many to drag him back (literally) and we had to lock him in his room (not easy).
For the next 6 months had there been an incident in Manchester I'd have named him to be on the safe side!
As for somone sat in the road.... you could not do anything yourself. 999 maybe?
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Drunk pedestrians constitute a high percentage of road deaths and injuries. As bellboy points out, they are a danger to others as well as themselves.
Get drunk by all means, but pull yourself together when walking on or near a road, just as you would pull yourself together if you had to drive (because of a uniformed policeman running up and saying 'This your car? Follow that bicycle!' or words to that effect).
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i know(knew) a guy who was a total pink fluffy dicehead the second time he got hit by a car was his last , he was in a coma for 3 years and now i understand from relatives he can now drink soup from a straw , his wife left him and i suppose he doesn't see his kids anymore, he was a very good employee who worked in the engineering , milling turning drilling what have you ... he was returning to work after a pub lunch but getting wasted in a dinner hour makes you wonder sometimes
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I stopped for a man lying on the pavement on a badly lit road opposite a pub. In retrospect I should have gone into the pub and asked the landlord for help. Another car stopped; it had four rough lads in it. They asked me if I had hit him with my car; it was a little threatening. When they smelled his breath they all laughed and said that he had had a GOOD night out. Then they left. I didn't like to leave him lying there, and he seemed harmless enough, so I gave him a lift to the main road about a mile away. On the way he listened carefully and told me that my wheel bearing on the near-side rear was noisy and on the way out.
In general you have to be very careful when dealing with a prostrate man, or woman for that matter. They may have had a stroke or heart attack and seriously need help. I remember seeing a placard that someone had put up in Manchester centre after a man had suffered a stroke on the way to work and had been ignored.
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blimey hillman that reminds me of a friend (bricky) who had a stroke in the city centre but was ignored by passers because they thought he was a drunk , he was even kicked about by real drunken slobs ...what a glorious land we live in
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I'd have stopped for him. It's pretty sad when you're not prepared to stop to help someone who can't help themselves. What one person thinks is outrageously drunk, they're a disgrace, they deserve what's coming to them etc., another person might think "oh dear he'll have a sore head tomorrow".
What if I didn't stop to help him and the next car swerved to avoid him and straight into you?
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Drunk pedestrians constitute a high percentage of road deaths and injuries. >>
And almost always it is the motorist that gets the blame - "You must have been driving too fast/without due care and attention*' (* delete as appropriate), therefore we will prosecute you, and another road injury means we simply MUST put up another speed camera/tax collector* (* delete as appropriate)."
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Drunk pedestrians constitute a high percentage of road deaths and injuries.
A short trawl of available statistics does not bear out this statement. Have you a 'net resource that does? I should like to see it.
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Passed the local drunk staggering up the middle of the road (in the same direction as me however on the other side fortunately...). Problem was it was up a steep hill with lots of blind curves and he was about to be wiped out by the oncoming traffic down it....
Stop slightly up the hill, leave hazards on, walk the few yards to person (who seems known to you!), deal appropriately.
People coming down the road *should* be able to stop in the distance they can see - they'd squash anyone walking or crossing, drunk or not, or hit a stationary vehicle, else. Better to hit a stationary vehicle than a person!
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People coming down the road *should* be able to stop in the distance they can see
Exactly
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Only just outside Shrewsbury I came upon a deer (full antlers the lot), fortunately running the other way one dark night a couple of weeks ago. I warned the car coming in the other direction and wondered what on earth I could do without endangering myself. Luckily, I passed the boys in blue on the way there within a mile or so - goodness knows how they would handle it - I think sitting there wih the blue lights flashing and trying to contact the owner would be the course of action I would take - it was a very distressed animal with a great set of antlers.
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There's got to be a dividing line somewhere.
Would I jump into a lake to rescue a drowning child - yes.
Would I walk into a minefield to recue a child - no.
Would I stop on a deserted country lane and move a hedgehog to safety - yes.
Would I stop on a main road and try to persuade a possibly violent drunk to move to the side - definitely not.
What do you do when/if you get him to the side?
Force him, puking, into your car and drive him home, if he knows where?
Pin him down at the side of the road and wait until someone runs into your car, and then the police turn up and arrest both of you for causing an accident?
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Cliff - my thoughts exactly.....!
FT - I've seen this guy before at the local SPAR trying (and being refused) to buy drink at 7 in the morning.... Wouldn't say we were exactly on first name terms...!
Steve
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>>Evidence of drunk pedestrians
Well known. See e.g.
tinyurl.com/ypqc4t
Almost half of all pedestrians killed in road crashes between 10pm and 4am on Fridays and Saturdays are more than twice over the drink-drive alcohol limit, it has been revealed.
Government figures, published by the RAC Foundation.
>>police were going to reunite deer with its owner [paraphrased]
Really? Almost certainly a wild animal and so ownerless. No doubt you'd like the police to prosecute Cliff's hedgehog's owner for letting the animal roam wild.
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