This Side of Town - Jodi Bryant: *555 drive

There to serve when others swerve.

If you've never dialled star-triple-five to dob in a wayward motorist, I'd recommend it.

Admittedly it can be a little tricky when you're driving, coupled with worrying about getting caught up in a potential crash from the erratic driver you are following - but if you've got a passenger to do so, it could be worth it.

The call-taker on the other end finished our 22 minute conversation with: "You've quite possibly saved some lives."

We were following an absolute cray-cray of a driver on our way home from Auckland during the school holidays. We had the misfortune of being behind him and he first caught our attention by crossing the double yellow lines toward an oncoming tourist campervan, which swerved to avoid him.

This he did repeatedly, followed by lurching over to the left and crossing over the white line towards the ditch.

Then he did something really strange considering he didn't have any young passengers egging him on; he wove in and out of some road cones in a half figure eight on the State Highway.

I was not at all thrilled to be stuck behind such a maniac, a head-on collision waiting to happen which we and others would likely be involved in.

But the *555 guy was most pleasant and efficient and managed to pinpoint our exact location.

He assured us a patrol car was waiting several kilometres ahead on the outskirts of Whangarei and we were to flash our hazard lights to confirm it was us following the offender.

And there, sure enough, was the patrol car filled with four officers waiting at the stated road, ready to pull out and give chase.

However, the crazy driver had one last Russian Roulette trick up his sleeve.

Right at that point he decided to pass the huge logging truck he'd been stuck behind, just as a large van pulled out of a side road towards him.

Somehow he yet again managed to avoid a collision but this manoeuvre shielded his small car from the officers' sight.

Hence, they were probably a little confused as to why we were flashing our hazard lights when there was no sign of the car they were looking out for.

I emphasised this to the man on the other end of the phone and, next minute, the patrol car went screaming past with lights flashing and apprehended the driver around the corner.

I got a little lump in my throat at the call-taker's parting words. It must be a feeling that our police have at many times going about their jobs.

Driving on the roads these days freaks me out at the best of times and I didn't realise until we turned off safely toward home how scary the situation had been.

The kids, however, having heard the whole encounter on speaker phone and, excitedly watching from the back seat, must have thought they were in the midst of an adventure.
To round things off, an officer phoned later that day to follow-up.

Among other things, the driver was unlicenced, the car unregistered and unwarranted, and his keys were taken.

We were thanked but I felt like it should be the other way around — after-all, we just sat in our car and narked.

We were listened to, taken seriously and dealt with respectfully; the situation was instantly acted upon, there was an outcome and a follow-up.

So, although there are mixed reviews about the service, based on my own experience, it's one I cannot fault and was certainly worth the call.

And, who knows, eliminating that driver and his unsafe car from our roads has possibly saved lives.