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Families plead with 4x4 death crash driver: Hand yourself in
Mark Blunden27 May 2009
The families of two teenage victims of a car crash pleaded today with the 4x4 driver responsible to “do the right thing and hand yourself in”.
Lifeguard Greg Stiles, 18, died and his girlfriend Abigail Dowdy, 17, suffered critical injuries and was left in a coma on 17 May.
Thames Valley police believe Mr Stiles's Ford Fiesta careered into a grass verge to avoid a BMW X5 which was overtaking three vehicles before hitting another car on the A4129 in Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire. The BMW driver failed to stop.
Mr Stiles, from Thame, died at the scene while Ms Dowdy, of Prestwood, Buckinghamshire, was airlifted to the John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford.
Mr Stiles's mother, Maggie, appealed to the BMW driver: “Please do the right thing and hand yourself in so I can sleep at night. We need everyone's help to find out what happened.”
Mr Stiles's family said in a statement: “Greg would always think of others before himself and rarely had a bad word to say about anyone; a sentiment that is echoed by all that knew him.
“Outside of work, Greg enjoyed spending time with his girlfriend Abi and his many friends. He also visited the gym regularly and was a Vale of the White Horse motocross club champion; an activity in which he had participated from a young age.
“One of life's real triers, Greg will be sorely missed by all who knew him.” The teenage couple were “inseparable” after meeting 18 months ago at a motocross event. Meanwhile, the family of a driver who died with three Londoners in another car after he drove the wrong way up a motorway released a statement today.
They said Zimbabwean student Tauya Marengereke, from Brighton, was an experienced driver and they could not understand what happened. Mr Marengereke, 27, stopped in a lay-by on the M6 near Great Barr in the West Midlands. He was heading south in the early hours of Sunday and had driven through the night to meet his girlfriend.
But he made a U-turn and drove the wrong way up the carriageway, ploughing his hired Ford Fusion head on into a Peugeot 406 carrying four men, three of whom were killed on impact. Police have not released their names but said two were 27 and the third was 18. The fourth man, 23, remains in hospital with serious injuries.
Mr Marengereke's family said: “He has driven for four years. It's really hard to understand what happened. He was the most reliable driver you could want behind a steering wheel.”
Reader views (5)
I think the last two comments here demonstrate why those who choose 4x4`s shouldn`t be allowed to drive `em!
Don`t forget - this column is about the tragedy of an accident caused by a stupid attitude to driving, dangerous, not in a "look at me, how cool I am" sense, but in an idiotic, enjoys to annoy and intimidate / fingers up to all other road users sense.
This is why we need useage controls - just `cause your wallet, ego and chariot is big enough doesn`t make you an appropriate driver.
- Darius Midwinter, London UK, 28/05/2009 07:54
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Speak for yourself Nobby. I have one because I want one, can easily afford one and best of all it really winds up the EcoMentalist wackjobs. Even more so when they find out I run it on LPG and it costs pennies to run. Cheaper to run than a Toyuta Pious. Mwahahaha!
- Ethan, UK, 27/05/2009 17:04
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Predictable anti-4x4 comments on here. I am neither a thug nor a bully. I have a 4x4 because I need one. But it also has the added advantage that it annoys people like Mickyinlondon.
- Nobby Clark, Perth, Scotland, 27/05/2009 16:38
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4X4s are murder vehicles; they should not be allowed on roads at all.
Just look at the drivers in them; nothing but thugs and bullys.
They chose these vehicles in order to intimidate and threaten other road users; and not because they really need them.
- Mickyinlondon, london, 27/05/2009 15:24
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Look at the number of TV ads and programmes that show it as "cool" to drive like a maniac - roads empty of traffic, pavements full of people admiring the car and the driver.
Then we have the system where any driver can drive any size car, no matter what experience or aptitude.
Any fool can make a car go fast - most modern cars, especially 4x4`s make the drivers feel ultra safe, almost invulnerable - it’s only when these people need to stop in an emergency, or lose control that the wheat is sorted from the chaff, the novice or just plain useless from the experienced and safe.
What with the glut of oversize and over performing new cars on the road (financed largely due to lax borrowing) driven often by people who can hardly see over the steering wheels, let alone beyond the sat navs and entertainment/communications systems we’re all infested with nowadays!
We need to incorporate more emergency skid and stop and reaction tests in the driving test, take into account height and physical ability, then allow only cars that actually fit the drivers physical and mental framework.
Stop novices driving anything but the least powerful, maximum one passenger, and if caught without insurance, ban for life. If caught twice, prison.
Also, the use of i-pods, mobile phones, etc, used by pedestrians should be taken into account.
These actions should go a long way to making our lives a bit safer on this overcrowded island.
- Darius Midwinter, London UK, 27/05/2009 13:18
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