It sounds like the stuff of urban legend. The pensioner who set out on a 15 minute drive, got lost and spent a day tapped on the M25, London’s orbital motorway. But this incident and many more are true and prove that we may not get wiser as we get older. Here is a sample of driving shockers.
Retired dance teacher Maureen Darvell was stopped by police after she drove against traffic for seven miles on the M3 near Basingstoke . The 83 year old told police she had been looking for a gap in the central reservation so she could cross over. The story emerged at Folkestone Magistrates’ Court . Police had been alerted by drivers who had been forced to swerve out of her way. She told the court she had never had an accident in 50 years of driving. She was fined and banned from driving for 15 months.
An 80 year old man was arrested after after driving twenty miles down the M42 in the West Midlands. Police managed to stop the man by forming a rolling road block after they received emergency calls. In a bizarre twist, as the driver was brought to a halt he managed to collide with a policeman standing on the road.
A 78-year old man from Cyprus took his 77 year old wife on a hair rising ride after he got confused about turnings near his home inLimassol. He drove against oncoming traffic for five miles. After he was stopped the man told police he was returnign from a hospital appointment when he decided to make a u-turn and inadvertently entered the wrong lane. Police are keeping his licence.
Finally a worried daughter phoned police after her father failed to turn up for Sunday lunch despite ringing to say he was leaving on the 10 minute car journey. It was another 24 hours before the exhausted man was found. He had missed a turn, ended up on the M25 and then couldn’t work out how to get off. He had eventually pulled off at a service station and fallen asleep in his car. His daughter has banned him from driving.
