Martin’s rude awakening
BREAKFAST-TIME SHOCKER AS CAR SMASHES INTO NHS MAN’S HOUSE
A MAPPERLEY homeowner felt his house quake when a car smashed into his house and wrote off his car.
Martin Pope, 41, was having his breakfast at his home in Private Road, Mapperley, when he “heard a loud crash and felt the whole house shudder”.
Mr Pope, an NHS service director, looked out his window to see a black BMW had crashed into his parked car and his house.
“The adrenaline just kicked in, I guess, and I went upstairs to grab my phone and call the police,” he said.
“By the time I got back, the driver had been surrounded by three people who had been passing by and saw what happened.
“My neighbour also came out after hearing the crash.”
The driver allegedly tried to flee but was tripped up down the road by another witness.
The suspect was then detained until police arrived.
The BMW went through a fence and a concrete post before crashing into the house, a breeze-block wall and Mr Pope’s car at around 7.15am on Saturday.
“I don’t know what sort of speed you would need to be doing to take out a concrete post,” Mr Pope said. “But my car was completely written off, and the BMW also took a chunk out of a wall on the drive. “But really, it could have been an awful lot worse and it does shake you up. “There are a lot of people who walk here, and 7.15am is usually the time I leave the house to walk and volunteer at a vaccination centre – that morning I had decided to take the car as it was raining.
“The police were great as well as the combined effort of neighbours. “The car wasn’t worth much on insurance so it will end up costing us, and cracks have appeared in the plaster on the kitchen wall, from the impact below. That fence was only three weeks old as well. “You do think of this as a quiet road – and it is – but it has gradually been used more and more as a rat run, especially as more people use Google Maps.” Neighbours shared the concern over speeding cars.
Kay Hall, who has lived in the area eight years, was “shocked” by the crash. “I didn’t know what had happened but that corner is so dangerous. One day a child will be killed there – they simply wouldn’t have a chance,” she said.
“They come down here speeding, blaring music and I hear them screeching around the bend – it’s quite frightening.
“Something should be done to stop it. The road needs a proper speed limit, resurfacing, yellow lines repainting.
“We pay big rates here but more needs to be done.”
Jim Smith, 44, who works in research and development, said he had also heard “people tearing around the road”.
“The first day we arrived here, a joyrider sped past with a police car in pursuit,” he said.
“It is definitely being used as a cut-through and maybe it needs bumps or some traffic-calming measure.
“We’re always conscious that someone could just plough straight through our boundary hedge into the garden, so I’d like a crash barrier maybe but that probably couldn’t happen.”
After the crash, a 36-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of failing to provide a sample, dangerous driving and failing to report an accident.
He was taken to hospital with a cut to his head and rib pain.
PC Molly Mason, who is leading the investigation, praised the actions of witnesses as “really brave and public-spirited”.
She added: “We are always on the lookout for dangerous drivers and drink-driving is something that we absolutely won’t tolerate in
One day a child will be killed there – they simply wouldn’t stand a chance
Kay Hall, neighbour