Long winded
 

Hi, we have just travelled from Oxford back to Swindon, we followed a car doing 35mph in a 50mph zone it became apparent that the driver was under the influence, they were using the wrong lanes at junctions even trying to turn right where there were no turnings. We rang the police on 101 only to be presented with a recorded message that goes on for several minutes and you get told at the end of the message you will be charged 15 pence a minute to talk to someone. Would you have rung 999 in that situation?.

Yes!..........preservation of life is imperative.

agree

macafee2

Yes definitely.

I pulled across a car at some lights and got out, Tuesday I think it was. I thought the driver was drunk, fairly new BMW with a front puncture still driving at 40mph.
The tread and side wall parted company and he was on the rim and still driving. He was not drunk so I let him go.

He will need more then a tyre. Driving with a puncture is one thing but at 40mph so the tyre falls apart...... is stupidity

macafee2

Could the driver have been diabetic or had some other medical issue?

Best thing in that situation is to remain safe yourself.. If you can warn oncoming or surrounding traffic, then great. But I wouldn't add to any potential problem/s by getting "physically" involved.

We're probably all decent-enough drivers on here, but we need to remember that we share the road with some inexperienced, elderly, unaware etc. drivers all the time.. And we should, therefore, be considerate of them - all the time.

I wouldn't call 999 (ever) unless there was an obvious, present emergency (or without having a sound understanding of what's actually going on i.e. a clearly impending situation).

In my opinion, you did the right thing by calling 101 :bowdown:


Cheers,
Karl.

A couple of years ago, late at night I witnessed a Ford escort van of some age come haring round at a junction without slowing down. He proceeded to hit the high raised refuge and bollard in the middle of the road. This is a junction designed for double decker buses. He then proceeded to over steer towards the kerb some metres down the road, narrowly missing a bus stop. I did not see him slow down at all and the car made no funny noises after the demolition job.

I called the police to report it on 999, as he was a danger to others, no matter what the reason.

Karl,
if the driver was diabetic or had some other medical issue do you not think this is an emergency? The OP thinks the driver was under the influence.
https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/...-alcohol-limit

https://digital.nhs.uk/data-and-info...ol/2018/part-6

At what point would you consider changing for a 101 call to a 999 call?

macafee2

This situation arose for me just a few weeks ago. Dialled 999 and the driver was stopped.
Driving at 25 to 30mph on a 60mph road. Weaving left and right and crossing the double white lines just missing oncoming traffic. I talked to the operator for 20 minutes whilst following the car. When possible, everyone else over took in frustration. I had no idea if the the driver was drunk or ill but with the registration number they were able to try and contact the owner of the vehicle and at least speak to family just in case it was due to illness. The operator was helpful and professional to the end but I was not privy to the outcome.
I must have witnessed 6 or 7 near misses on that journey.

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