A massively eventful day today – making travel news at one point!
I was driving on a main road out of Dewsbury and was turning right up towards Thornhill… whilst I waited for a gap in oncoming traffic so I could turn I received a rather large shock up my arse end! literally!
A Piaggio 125cc scooter thingy had not seen me/braked too hard/braked wrongly and had come off. His scooter had slid partway under my van bursting the spare tyre and damaging the spare wheel and carrying cage. He’d also broken the rear light and put a rather large crack in the under tray… oh and the mud flap has mysteriously disappeared but we couldn’t find that anywhere!
I called 999 immediately and left the van where it was (not that I could have moved). The rider ended up laid on his side on the opposite carriageway, thus closing the entire road totally for an hour and a half causing massive tailbacks both ways.
2 Police cars and a police bike showed up within literally 2 minutes and an ambulance followed shortly after. Luckily, a member of staff at a local nursing home was first aid trained and had come to the riders rescue already.
After an hour or so, during which time I was arrested (apparently, if someone is injured in an RTA all involved parties are arrested as a matter of course) and then released without charge.
Anyhoo… I have now bought a sooty van for £100 (£75 if it’s off site by noon tomorrow) and have sold it to the scrap yard up the road for… £75 – less rear lights, 1 headlight, steering wheel, 2 seats, and the spare wheel. A bargain… and when the insurance company repair it properly I will take the “temporary” parts off and store them for future use.
The guy, by the way, has a broken collar bone but is generally doing fine and will probably not need to stay in hospital. A lucky escape for him with what could have been a very nasty accident!