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British Driver Becomes Hero of the Day by Stopping Hit-and-Run Wannabe

Being involved in an accident is not nice, no matter on which end you find yourself. If you’re the victim, you’ll ask yourself “why is this happening to me?”, and if you’re the offender, you’ll say... well, I guess “why is this happening to me” works just as well here too.
Hit and run in Birmingham 1 photo
Photo: Screenshot from YouTube
A lot of things can go through your mind at the time, but running away from the scene of the accident shouldn’t be one of them. Sure, you can be scared especially if you’re a woman and it’s your first time, but if that’s the case, just lock yourself in and call the police. Running away is only going to make things worse.

The car you hit is also important. Totaling something really expensive can be intimidating, especially if you forgot to pay that insurance fee that was due a few months ago. Still, fleeing the scene is still a bad idea, as it’s very likely that the other driver already has your license number. And even if they don’t, how many cars matching your model and color with a messed-up front end could the Police have to pick from?

Last Saturday, a woman was driving her silver Vauxhall Astra Sports Tourer when she failed to give way to a silver Porsche Cayman, wrecking the sports car pretty badly. Michael, a local photographer, happened to be on the scene, even though he had no idea he was about to play a role in this whole story.

He noticed the station wagon stopped in the middle of the crossroad, with a damaged front right corner. The car began to move and he figured it was just getting out of the way, finding a better spot to stop and talk with the other driver. Instead, the Astra tried to make a run for it, so Michael’s instincts kicked in and followed the Vauxhall over a short distance, before forcing it to a stop. As he got out of the car, the silver station wagon went past him, but got stuck behind another car as it was waiting for its turn to merge on a larger street.

Michael went after her, and as her car came to a complete halt, he opened the door, pulled the keys out and casually walked back towards his car, with the runaway driver now immobilized (and the narrow street she was on blocked, but that’s another story).

What did we learn from this? Well, if you intend to run away from the scene of an accident, then there are two things you should consider: one, always lock your doors, and two, think about investing in a keyless system: I doubt Michael would have searched her purse for the fob had she gone for that option.

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About the author: Vlad Mitrache
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"Boy meets car, boy loves car, boy gets journalism degree and starts job writing and editing at a car magazine" - 5/5. (Vlad Mitrache if he was a movie)
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