‘Hero’ PC who risked his life to stop drink-driving rugby star on wrong side of A63 wins bravery award

A brave police officer who risked his life to stop a dangerous drink-driving rugby star on the wrong side of the A63 has won an award.

PC Tom Elvidge was first at the scene when police received several calls that a car was driving in the wrong direction along the dual carriageway in the early hours of January 2, 2022.

In an act of bravery, PC Elvidge attempted to stop the suspect's vehicle by endangering his own life. It crashed straight into him at high speed.

PC Elvidge saw the erratic driver on the wrong side of the road six miles away from where it was initially reported to the police. In an attempt to get the car to stop without causing harm to the public, PC Elvidge came to a stop between the two lanes and illuminated his car's front blue lights.

Despite the procedure for such traffic violations, the suspect ignored the blue lights and made no attempt to slow down, resulting in him crashing front first at high speed into the police car.

Both cars were substantially damaged, and PC Elvidge sustained an injury to his left knee and neck, and is still receiving treatment for psychological damage. The incident was one of four separate road traffic collisions on the same stretch of road, with one involving another case of a driver on the wrong side of the road.

PC Elvidge was aware of those recent RTCs, yet remained unfazed and carried out his duty to apprehend the suspect.

PC Elvidge said: “They calculated he drove 8.8 miles the wrong way. So he’d avoided loads of cars, but behind me in lane two was a family car with a load of people in, and if he hadn’t hit me, he’d have hit them.

“It was one of those things where I knew I had to do something. I’ve got ongoing back problems from it. They’re not going to change my life or anything but if he’d have hit the side of my door I probably would have broken my legs.”

On winning the Humberside Police and Federations Bravery Award, he added: “It’s nice that someone’s put me forward for this and I appreciate it. But at the same time, I don’t expect anything. Would I do it again if I had to? I would, yeah. But would my family be happy if I did it again? Probably not.”

The driver of the car, former Hull Kingston Rovers^[2] Rugby League player Brad Takairangi^[3], pleaded guilty to dangerous driving and drink driving at Hull Crown Court in April 2022. Takairangi escaped uninjured from the collision, but was sentenced^[4] to a 12-month suspended jail term for two years, and was ordered to carry out 300 hours of unpaid work, involving coaching young Hull rugby players.

Humberside Police Federation Chair Lee Sims said: “This selfless act took great courage and shows how Tom was willing to risk his own safety to protect members of the public.“A lorry driver who was at the scene said: ‘He’s a hero for what he has done.’ What he did and the courage it took should not be underestimated. It is purely by chance that Tom has not suffered very, very serious injuries or worse and is here to tell his version of events.“We are very proud of his bravery and he is a worthy winner.”

Now PC Elvidge will attend the first Humberside Police and Federation Bravery Awards at a ceremony on June 16. At the event, a winner will be awarded and then travel to London for the National Police Federation Bravery Awards in July.

References

1. ^{^} Teenager charged following Orchard Park motorbike chase in which one suspect was bitten by police dog (www.hulldailymail.co.uk)
2. ^{^} Hull Kingston Rovers (www.hulldailymail.co.uk)
3. ^{^} Brad Takairangi (www.hulldailymail.co.uk)
4. ^{^} sentenced (www.hulldailymail.co.uk)