“I’m not going to sugar coat it. You could have killed your mate.” Last month we received a call from a driver who said that he had just driven into his friend at 60mph and crashed into a stone wall. An emergency signal from the car pointed officers to their location on the B6306 near Edmundbyers, where they had been taking pictures of their cars driving around a tight corner. Unfortunately for both, the driver in question failed to negotiate the bend, crossed into the opposing lane and hurtled directly towards his friend at high speed. Thanks to luck and quick reactions from the cameraman, what could easily have been a fatal collision was avoided by mere inches. He sustained minor injuries in the resulting fall, and the driver’s car was heavily damaged from the impact with the wall. Thankfully there were no unsuspecting drivers approaching in the opposite direction. The 21-year-old driver, who had only been driving for eight months and whose car was only three days old, was reported for dangerous driving and a valuable lesson was learned. If you’re going to photograph or video your car, do so in a safe and controlled environment.