Safe Speed Forums

Driver's trail of destruction
John Scheerhout and Mike Keegan

August 04, 2009

A MOTORIST went on the rampage smashing into 19 cars and leaving a trail of destruction.

Pedestrians fled as the driver, in a Mitsubishi Shogun 4x4, rammed into parked and moving cars 'like a pinball' in north Manchester last night.

Some of the vehicles were shunted onto their side while pedestrians, including mothers with their children, jumped out of the way.

At one point the 4x4 came to a stop after hitting a parked car, but the driver just put it into reverse and sped off again on his wrecking spree.

The drama came to an end when the blue Mitsubishi Shogun ploughed through a lamp-post and railings at a pedestrian crossing outside the Broadway pub on Broadway in New Moston just before 7pm yesterday.

Resident Steven Bailey, 41, whose wife Barbara's silver Peugeot 307 mobility car was ploughed into, said it was like something out of a movie.

Screech

"We heard a massive screech and a bang.

"We went out and the 4x4 smashed into a BT van on the other side of the road.

"Someone ran across to see if the driver was ok but he just rammed it in reverse and set off again.

"About 10 yards further up he has hit my wife's car which has cannoned into two others, put it into reverse and shot off down the road again.

"He has then hit the bus stop, gone into the air and hit the traffic lights.

"By this point there were lots of people out who ran across to him, pulled him out and kept him on the pavement until the police got there.

"It was like something out of a film. I have never seen anything like it.

"It was difficult to take in."

Another resident Steve Wilson said: "Mothers had to drag their children to safety from Nuthurst Park. The driver only stopped when he hit a lamp post and railings at the junction of Broadway and Nuthurst Road next to the Broadway pub."

One resident said it was like a 'pinball'.

The driver, who suffered a suspected broken arm and other injuries, was pulled from the wreckage of his car by eye-witnesses. No-one else was hurt during the rampage.

Paramadics and police arrived at the scene but struggled to calm the 'extremely aggressive' driver.

He was taken to North Manchester General Hospital.

Officers investigating the drama will speak to him only if doctors declare he is fit to be interviewed.

We heard a massive screech and a bang. We went out and the 4x4 smashed into a BT van on the other side of the road. Someone ran across to see if the driver was ok but he just rammed it in reverse and set off again.

Steven Bailey
The 42-year-old, from Moston, is understood to have personal problems.

Police have received reports from 19 people saying their cars were damaged during the rampage mainly along Nuthurst Road.

They anticipate more motorists will come forward when they discover their cars have also been damaged.

A police source said: "We received reports the car was being rammed into stationary and moving cars one by one. It was fortunate no-one else was hurt. Only the driver of the Shogun appears to have been injured.

"He's in hospital now and being assessed by medical staff. We can only speak to him once he has been assessed properly."

The Shogun was taken away to be forensically examined.

A spokesman for Greater Manchester Police said: "Officers will be speaking to the driver once he has been assessed at the hospital."

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/6736587.stm

Personally ?
I think that psych assessment of drivers is going to be yet another industry that has to be paid for.

Another load of "partner agencies" to weigh the country down.
Any person can behave quite sanely for most of their lives and then "flip" when faced with any sort of stress, or one particular sort of behaviour by another.

Yet more rubbish for the semi-professional headcases in the psychological (which means "sounds good but is just guesswork really") industry.
Hey....this is the "professional" service that thinks that anyone who considers psychology to be useless is automatically a problem waiting to happen !
I suppose that it may be of some use...but testing new drivers for drugs and alcohol before they take a test, or driving lesson, would be of more use !
At least it will drag more revenue in...another tests, to go along with the theory and hazard perception.