Policemen given bravery award for initiating 70mph head-on crash to stop dementia sufferer
Two police officers, who risked a head-on collision to prevent an
elderly dementia sufferer from crashing into oncoming cars as he drove
the wrong way on the motorway, have been honored.
PCs Craig Graves and Steven Hudson have received a Chief Constable’s
Commendation for bravery after safely stopping the man’s Honda Jazz as
it traveled at 70mph towards them in August 2014, ensuring both the
77-year-old and other road users remained uninjured.
The elderly man had been reported missing and police had received
numerous calls after his car was spotted traveling southwards on the
northbound carriageway of the M6 Toll, near Sutton Coldfield.
Traffic officers PCs Graves and Hudson were asked to put on a rolling
road block to slow down vehicles coming towards the Honda and create
space for motorway police to catch up with the car.
However, the Honda outran the officers and continued to travel at speed
towards the road block.
Dashcam footage shows how the pair, on spotting the Honda approaching,
positioned their car to prevent it reaching the cars behind them,
forcing the Honda into the central reservation.
PC Hudson suffered with bruising and whiplash for more than a week after
the collision.
Chief Constable Chris Sims presented PCs Graves and Hudson with their
commendations at an awards ceremony.
They were nominated by their sergeant, Paul Talbot, for their
“outstanding display of serving the public and protecting them from
harm”.
On receiving his award, PC Graves said: “I thought the driver of the Honda would see our lights and slow to a stop, but he didn’t and just kept coming towards us.
I turned slightly to the left in order to make contact while lessening
the sudden impact, forcing the vehicle into the central reservation.
Fortunately this worked but contrary to what I said on the in-car video,
there was considerable damage to our vehicle.
The vehicle directly behind us, which would have been in the path of the
Honda, contained a dad and his three young children, so it was very
fortunate the end result was successful and nobody was seriously
injured.
I believe we were just doing our job.”
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