Last night I needed to drive out into the country to a small village not far from Hemel. Typically these are fairly small windy roads, with no street lights and no mobile phone reception. I was looking for a named house, in the dark with sort of help from my Satnav. The roads were quiet. At a bend another car came at me, very fast, main beam on and in the middle of the road. I wasn't going fast and to take avoiding action I bumped my little car up on the verge. The car past by me quickly into the night and I tried to drive off the verge.
It had rained heavily earlier and the verges were quite soft, and my two front wheels were stuck. As I engaged the clutch slowly so as not to spin the wheels but get the most traction, nothing happen apart from mud flying up in the air. The front of the car went down and I was truly stuck.
I got out of the car and with my wind up torch surveyed the situation. The back wheels were on firmish ground, but the front wheels were in liquid mud up to the cill of the car, There was nothing to get traction onto. I tried what resources I had. I found a few bits of branch and shoved them into the mud to try to get some purchase. It made no difference. As I was trying this out, a car stopped opposite me and the gentle man asked was I stuck. I got out, crossed the road and had a short chat with him. He said that he could not pull me out with his little car, but he lived around the corner and would be 5 minutes and would go and get his Range Rover to pull me out
.
A few minutes later a Range Rover appeared and stopped and with the aid of my torch and a prepared tow rope with hooks, the Range Rover started to pull me out. Another car stopped along this lonely road, The driver asked if he could help. The man in the Range Rover directed him around the corner and to put his hazard lights on, which he did.
In a moment or to my car was pulled out, we disconnected the tow rope. I drove forward and off the verge onto the road. The Man with the hazard lights pulled away back on his journey.
I thanked the man in the Range Rover and he wished me well and got me to drive away as to not block the road.
Life in the country is perhaps a bit different. Two people stopped to help me. In Hemel if the same thing had happened I'm sure that I still would have been there.
People don't stop.
People don't want to get involved.
Perhaps there is a moral here.
Perhaps we should stop in out busy lives and take time to help those who might need our help. Perhaps it is just talking to a lonely neighbour. Perhaps it is doing more.
My heart felt thanks goes to the two gentlemen who stopped and offered assistance. They seemed use to and prepared for this. The man in the Range Rover certainly was used to pulling cars from the verge.
I hope I can be more of a Good Samaritan to others.
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