A famous DJ crashed his Mercedes to avoid a cat on the road. Would you? This is nice – for the cat and cat lovers. I guess the DJ concerned – Nick Grimshaw who was an X Factor judge until recently – is at least sensitive towards animal welfare. Great. He had only just left his home in north London and turned a corner when he saw a ginger cat in the middle of the road.
He was travelling at 15 miles per hour he said and he genuinely meant it. In order to avoid the cat he drove into a parked car (parked on the side of the road, I presume). The way his car impacted the other car caused it to flip over. He was worried that he had hit the cat but he had not. Grimshaw was unharmed.
A witness reporting to the Metro newspaper said:
“He was fine and the cat was fine….He was a lovely man, he said he would have felt terrible if the cat had been hurt.”
Both airbags in the car went off. Grimshaw was at the accident site for a long time as police and the fire service arrived. A big event in the neighbourhood. His neighbours and friends helped out.
Grimshaw said:
“The car went upside down. I’m absolutely fine…I turned out of my house, my car flipped over and went over on its side…I came out of my street, turned right, saw quite a large ginger cat. I was like, ‘Oh no, a cat.’ Rather than killing the cat, I drove into a car….The car that I hit made my car tip over. The woman’s car is absolutely fine… She needs a new wheel arch, which I guess I’m paying for.”
The interesting thing about this event is that Nick Grimshaw deliberately went out of his way and endangered his health and safety. Perhaps he did not deliberately decide to do that and acted instinctively instead but some people would just have driven on.
The fact that instinctive reactions kicked in to protect the cat indicates that Grimshaw has a tender regard for animal welfare.
His passenger, who is also okay, said she’d report the cat to the police! If she really meant that she is silly. That said there are a lot of cats in the UK on the road in quiet suburban areas. They are a hazard to motorists if you want to see it from the driver’s point of view. Obviously they are also in perilous danger themselves but they are unaware of it.
Sometimes it will be impossible to avoid a cat on a road. The advantage of going at 15 mph is that it gives the driver time to avoid a cat. There is an argument that the speed limit in suburban roads should be reduced to 20 mph. When driving down streets in London where there are lots of residents, I am watchful of the potential for cats to rush across the road. Drivers should be aware of the possibility that a cat can suddenly be on the road. It would be extremely upsetting if I killed a cat this way.
He just likes to try and wind me up. I does not work. I feel sorry for him and hate him at the same time.
Yes, Darlene, it’s a good story for all of us who love cats and animals.
I think he has a crush on you. 😉 A little more serious he’s an excellent example of what cat haters stand for.
I have a rear view mirror reflex when I see an animal in the road. If I can I will. We have prairie dogs and often they choose the most inopportune moment to dash out onto the road. Today they were mowing the weeds along the rural roads. The body count goes down significantly when that happens. Being aware of the drivers around you , not tailgating and keeping your eyes on the road help. I see a lot of cats hit on the side of the road. What I suspect as deliberate hits.
I’ve done that for our shelled friends out here. And I made my husband watch the road.