A family with three young children received quite a shock one recent Saturday evening whilst relaxing at home, when a car barrelled into their property boundary. Shortly after 7:20pm on the 4th February, a young man reported to have been drink-driving, lost control of his vehicle and swerved off Birchwood Road in Petts Wood, crashing into this unfortunate household’s front-garden wall. His car was left partially suspended in mid-air, hanging over the wall’s edge. Luckily there were no casualties as the man was the vehicle’s sole occupant and no-one happened to be passing by at the time.
Three fire engines and two police cars arrived at the scene, preventing advancing traffic from coming too close and then forcing it to turn around, out of fear that the vehicle may burst into flames. The man was taken to Marlowe House Police department in Sidcup for a screening breath test to confirm whether he would be prosecuted for ‘driving under the influence’.
Mrs Pifani, a local who lives in the house opposite the accident, commented that “Unfortunately, very often cars come speeding down this road and so it is not surprising that a crash happened. It is a shame that the majority of the time, the drivers are young adults who can’t have been driving for very long. It is probably time for the local Council to act by introducing some speed-bumps or other similar measures to increase the safety standards around here”.
On average, 940 people are killed and 3,680 are seriously injured in Great Britain each year from drink-driving collisions. Drink-drivers risk their life, those of their passengers and those of complete innocents nearby. Many of the functions that we depend on to drive safely are affected when we consume alcohol: the brain takes longer to process information and remit instructions to the body, resulting in slower reaction times. Individuals may also experience blurred or double vision, affecting their ability to see clearly while driving, and they become more likely to take potentially dangerous risks by acting on urges they normally suppress.
But the repercussions are much broader. On this occasion, a single person caused five public service vehicles to be mobilised and required more public officers’ time at the police station thereafter. Even though thankfully no-one was hurt this time around, and it was only a wall that bore the consequences, the accident serves to remind us to embrace the message to which some have perhaps become too blasé about: ‘Don’t drink and drive – it could cost lives’.
By Serena Hunt
