Ottery driver feels 'lucky to be alive' after crash
A SHAKEN teenager feels lucky to be alive after his car hurtled into a ditch when swerving to avoid a vehicle on the wrong side of the road.
A SHAKEN teenager feels lucky to be alive after his car hurtled into a ditch when swerving to avoid a vehicle on the wrong side of the road.
A relaxing Sunday afternoon with friends nearly ended in tragedy on Ottery's outskirts for Michael Rose, 18, as he narrowly avoided a head-on collision with a Land Rover, which he said sped round a blind bend on his side of the road on Chineway.
The Land Rover driver didn't stop as Michael's Peugeot 306 careered off the tarmac and spun around several times while he fought to regain control.
Apprentice mechanic Michael fears the damage to his car is so bad it's a write off.
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Police now want to speak to the driver of the silver Land Rover 3, and a cyclist who witnessed the incident, near Great Well Farm at about 5.15pm on Sunday.
Michael, who lives in Allercombe, thinks Land Rover was overtaking the cyclist on a bend when he suddenly faced the horrific prospect of a head on crash.
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He said "The other car was half a foot from the hedge on my side of the road. There was no time to think, it was just do I want to crash into the front of a Land Rover or a hedge. I went for the hedge, if I didn't I knew I was going to be saying ouch afterwards.
"I aimed for the bank and tried to swerve back but must have hit mud or some leaves and ended up spinning round three times and in a ditch facing the wrong way.
"I'm lucky I'm still in one piece. I work in a garage and we recover vehicles that have been in fatal accidents, I keep thinking over and over in my head what if I hadn't made that gap and we had hit the Land Rover, or, if I had come round the corner two seconds earlier.
"I'm shaken up and angry at the fact the driver didn't stop. The cyclist stopped, he got off his bike, turned around and came back and checked to see everyone was ok, it was really good of him. Unfortunately I didn't get his details.
"That driver was going plenty fast enough round the cyclist, it was like they hadn't stopped to check and had come straight around him."
Anyone with information about the incident can contact police on 08452 777 444.
