Unwanted Excitement
The scene of the crime, literally.
So I was driving home from the lab, probably around 1:45 AM because I left at 1:30. I was driving west on Euclid Heights, shortly past Coventry and coming up on a kind of funky intersection (those are plentiful in Cleveland Heights, in this case it was Woodward and Euclid Heights), when I see a white car driving the other direction at what I feel was a speed that was a bit too fast. I slow down and move toward the curb and the other car starts to drift onto my side of the road as it passes Woodward, wobbles a bit, overcompensates, misses me, jumps the curb on the north side of the road and hit a large tree that is probably about 15-20 feet off of the road. I turn onto Woodward, turn around and head back to see if the passenger(s) is(are) alright, and because I know that I'm a witness to what just happened.
When I get out of the car somebody who lives in one of the nearby houses is already outside (he was watching TV) and I see a few things
1) the car took out a small tree in the tree lawn. As in, this 3 inch tree is now on the ground with roots broken off of the root ball.
2) There are no tire tracks on the tree lawn, so the car was probably airborne from hitting the curb
3) The car is attempting to drive off of the curb, but is having problems with that because...
4) The front passenger side wheel is about 10 feet behind the car, probably from when it hit the big tree which actually stopped it.
The guy who lives there informed the driver of their lack of wheel, whereupon the driver gets out and sees the wheel, stumbles a bit while walking, and proceeds to get back into the drivers seat, but is no longer revving the engine. Less than 2 minutes after I got out of my car a police officer shows up (somebody else must have called because I don't have a cell phone). The officer immediately goes over to the crashed car and starts talking to the driver and inspecting the car. I go over to the big tree and see quite a bit of bark scratched off in maybe a 10 cm x 10 cm area, but for the most part the big tree is just fine.
Eventually the police officer walks away from the crashed car and into ear shot when I relate to him that I was driving in the opposite direction and was a witness to the white car losing control. At that point he asked if I could write out a statement (apparently I didn't have to) and I agree. He provides me with a clipboard, form, and a pen, and I sit down on the grass and start writing out what I observed. While I'm writing out my report about 3 more police officers show up. I also see the police officers administering a field sobriety test to the driver. I finish up my report, which comes in at about 2/3 of a page, hand written, and hand it over to one of the police officers (but not the one who gave me the form). He reads over it and jokes that I'm not supposed to write a better report than the officers themselves. I then ask if I can go or if they need me for anything else and they inform me that I'm free to leave.
They didn't say anything, but I wouldn't be surprised if I get a call or something. I'm guessing I won't have to go to court as this case seems pretty open and shut, at least for a charge of reckless driving (see, there was a crime at that scene!). Here all I wanted to do was come home, walk the dog, and go to bed. I figured I should probably write this out now though, while it is still fresh in my mind. While it was unwanted excitement, it still makes for a pretty good story, and I'd like to be able to check back and get my facts as close to straight as possible (i.e. what I remember less than 90 minutes after it actually happened).
So I was driving home from the lab, probably around 1:45 AM because I left at 1:30. I was driving west on Euclid Heights, shortly past Coventry and coming up on a kind of funky intersection (those are plentiful in Cleveland Heights, in this case it was Woodward and Euclid Heights), when I see a white car driving the other direction at what I feel was a speed that was a bit too fast. I slow down and move toward the curb and the other car starts to drift onto my side of the road as it passes Woodward, wobbles a bit, overcompensates, misses me, jumps the curb on the north side of the road and hit a large tree that is probably about 15-20 feet off of the road. I turn onto Woodward, turn around and head back to see if the passenger(s) is(are) alright, and because I know that I'm a witness to what just happened.
When I get out of the car somebody who lives in one of the nearby houses is already outside (he was watching TV) and I see a few things
1) the car took out a small tree in the tree lawn. As in, this 3 inch tree is now on the ground with roots broken off of the root ball.
2) There are no tire tracks on the tree lawn, so the car was probably airborne from hitting the curb
3) The car is attempting to drive off of the curb, but is having problems with that because...
4) The front passenger side wheel is about 10 feet behind the car, probably from when it hit the big tree which actually stopped it.
The guy who lives there informed the driver of their lack of wheel, whereupon the driver gets out and sees the wheel, stumbles a bit while walking, and proceeds to get back into the drivers seat, but is no longer revving the engine. Less than 2 minutes after I got out of my car a police officer shows up (somebody else must have called because I don't have a cell phone). The officer immediately goes over to the crashed car and starts talking to the driver and inspecting the car. I go over to the big tree and see quite a bit of bark scratched off in maybe a 10 cm x 10 cm area, but for the most part the big tree is just fine.
Eventually the police officer walks away from the crashed car and into ear shot when I relate to him that I was driving in the opposite direction and was a witness to the white car losing control. At that point he asked if I could write out a statement (apparently I didn't have to) and I agree. He provides me with a clipboard, form, and a pen, and I sit down on the grass and start writing out what I observed. While I'm writing out my report about 3 more police officers show up. I also see the police officers administering a field sobriety test to the driver. I finish up my report, which comes in at about 2/3 of a page, hand written, and hand it over to one of the police officers (but not the one who gave me the form). He reads over it and jokes that I'm not supposed to write a better report than the officers themselves. I then ask if I can go or if they need me for anything else and they inform me that I'm free to leave.
They didn't say anything, but I wouldn't be surprised if I get a call or something. I'm guessing I won't have to go to court as this case seems pretty open and shut, at least for a charge of reckless driving (see, there was a crime at that scene!). Here all I wanted to do was come home, walk the dog, and go to bed. I figured I should probably write this out now though, while it is still fresh in my mind. While it was unwanted excitement, it still makes for a pretty good story, and I'd like to be able to check back and get my facts as close to straight as possible (i.e. what I remember less than 90 minutes after it actually happened).