Blackpool man stopped drink driver when he saw him weaving all over the road

A man has told how he risked his own safety and intervened to help catch a drink driver who had mounted the pavement and veered onto the wrong side of the road.

Adam Hawkins, 31, told how he tried to signal the man, who was “weaving all over the place” to stop before taking matters into his own hands.

He was driving with his wife, Carolyn, 40, when he noticed a silver Ford weaving erratically across the road on the morning of January 12.

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“I noticed there was a car that was weaving all over the place, driving on the wrong side of the road and driving on the pavement,” he said.

“Not just a little bit, but on the wrong side of the road for a long stretch. There were a few near-misses.

“I pulled alongside him on Red Bank Road to tell him to pull over and I could see he was extremely drunk.

“As we approached Norbreck he mounted the pavement again and by an inch must have missed three young girls walking a dog. How he missed them I have no idea. It was so close.”

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The driver later admitted drink driving but he was not charged in relation to any alleged dangerous driving.

Resolving to put a stop to the drunk driver, Adam overtook the silver Ford on Norbreck Road and braked in front of him - a move that cost him the rear bumper of his Audi Q3.

He said: “I got in front of him and slammed the car brakes on to bring him to a halt because he was coming into a residential area. He did crash into me.

“His car took the brunt of the damage. We fortunately got just some minor bumper damage.

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“He tried to accelerate around us. He was going about 40mph. He tried to get around us on the pavement but, being as drunk as he was, he didn’t judge it right and struck the side of the car.

“Fortunately there was another person there walking her dog. She rang her husband who was a police officer in Blackpool and he came over quickly.”

A police spokeswoman confirmed they attended at around 9.20am that day.

A Cleveleys man was charged with drink driving and later banned from the road for 26 months.

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The experience was a particularly shocking one for Adam, who suffered serious injuries in a crash on the M61 in September 2016, when his car left the carriageway and plummeted down a ditch.

He was left with a broken back, punctured lung, and long-term nerve damage. He spent a week in intensive care.

The dad-of-one, who lives on Warbreck Hill Road said. “I was quite shaken given the last time I had been in something like that it didn’t end well.

“I was more focused on getting him stopped so that he didn’t kill anyone.

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“I was on the car phone to the police while I was following him relaying information and it was clear he had to be stopped there and then, because he was going into a residential area in Norbreck.

“The bumper is hanging off and there’s some damage to the lights but it’s a small price to pay to stop him running over a child.

“You just don’t know what you would do until you’re in that situation.”

He added: “I’d like to think that the gentleman would take the time to get some help. He’s obviously a troubled young man to be drinking that much and then driving.

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“I’d like to think he’d take the time to reflect and take the time he needs to become a safe and decent driver.

“I think everyone deserves a second chance. He’ll pay his dues and hopefully that’s the end of it.”

Court appearance

Ryan Handley, 34, of Brisbane Place, Cleveleys, appeared at Blackpool Magistrate’s Court on January 29.
He pleaded guilty to one count of drink driving. He was banned from driving for 26 months.
He was also made subject to a community order, to run until January 2020, must attend a thinking skills programme, and was ordered to pay an £85 victims surcharge and £85 in court costs.