| Quite a few years ago, during my looooong layoff from two wheels, I was working as a computer field engineer. The company I worked for had a good company car policy and all us young yahoos opted for GTI's and other hot hatches of the day. I did a bit of rallying at the time (not in the company car mind) but I used to drive errrrrm.... spiritedly....everywhere!
I had been called out to a job in Leighton Buzzard and was on my way home through Woburn and up towards Ridgmont. It was drizzling and the road was damp, but not soaking, and there was still a fair bit of grip around. I was driving with my usual enthusiasm as I came round a 90 degree right hander by the White Horse at Husborne Crawley when the car unexpectedly just lost all grip and understeered towards the verge. Being a bit of a rallying smartarse at the time, I kept my foot down and dabbed the brake with my left foot to bring the back round. That got the car sliding sideways, instead of straight on at least, and the car slammed broadside into the verge. Fortunately, instead of the verge tripping the car up and rolling it, I got bounced back onto the road.
After a few moments of increased heartrate and feeling shakey, I pushed the car into first gear again and set off...or at least tried to. The front wheels were spinning like crazy and drifting from side to side - just like driving on ice. By now the smell of diesel had wafted into the car, so it was clear what had caused all the drama. By driving as if I was on packed snow, I got moving again and soon found out what had caused it all.
Just after that corner there is a long straight alongside the Woburn estate wall, that rises gently all the way along. Half way along this straight there was a tractor and trailer with a big tank of fuel oil or diesel on the back. The tank lid was loose and the diesel sloshing backwards and forwards was surging out of the tank, onto the flat bed of the trailer, then spilling across the entire width of the carriageway like a waterfall. I had never seen anything like it.
Fortunately, car phones had just been invented so I made a 999 call to the police as I followed the tractor (which had no numberplate on either it or the trailer). Luck must've been on my side that day because the call was answered almost immediately by a motorway patrol car that had just left the motorway on his way back to Ampthill nick and was litterally half a mile up the road and round the corner from where this was all taking place....I'd never seen a response so quick, I'd only just put the phone down and there was old bill stopping the tractor. Not too long afterwards and the fire brigade were on the scene mopping up the spillage and warning road signs were out. I have to say on this ocassion I was very impressed with the emergency services.
I answered a few questions for the police and they traced this spill for over a mile from where they'd stopped the tractor. The PC I spoke to said he'd never seen a diesel spill like it and that they would definitely prosecute, which they did. I read in the local rag afterwards that the guy had been heavily fined (can't remember how much but it was enough to have made anyone wince), so on this ocassion at least, some justice was done and nobody came to severe harm.
Having seen it happen, it does make me shudder to think what would have happened to anyone on two wheels.  | 
Jools
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