Beware nocturnal drivers of booby traps awaiting you

A new kind of ambush awaits motorists, especially those driving at night.

I was taking a few friends out for dinner to Colpetty. Driving on the dimly- lit road along the Beira lake, a three- wheeler suddenly came head -on to my left slowing me down. The next moment I heard a big thud behind my car. My first thought was that it was a tennis ball that hit the car. I drove away without stopping.

No sooner had I taken the bend heading towards Slave Island, a three wheeler came roaring behind me, the driver shouting and waving at me to stop the vehicle. When I slowed down to a halt near the railway crossing, the driver of the three- wheeler was hysterical saying that I had hit another three- wheeler and the owner was waiting for me to come back. He feigned adequate desperation on his face in an attempt to make me turn the car.

I was in no mood for his antics as I felt I had not hit anyone or anything. I gave him a tongue- lashing using his own brand of rhetoric and drove away. I saw him furious, reluctantly turning back his threewheeler.

Had I gone back, I guarantee that a precisely orchestrated accident scenario would have awaited me, with all sorts of shady characters playing the extortion game.

In fact, my friend who was seated with me in the passenger side said he clearly saw the guy who passed me on the wrong side giving the rear of my car a good thump with his fist. Well, he was not strong enough to dent my car nor leave behind a scratch, as closer scrutiny revealed no tell- tale marks.

Beware ladies and gentlemen who do nocturnal jaunts. Athurugiriya