Archers thread #165: Bridge over troubled waters! Discuss The Archers here.

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Out of interest, how much trouble would George be in if he had told something closer to the truth?

Eg "I found Alice passed out drunk in a lay by and didn't think it was safe to leave her there. I was able to wake her up enough to ask, and she agreed I could drive her home, and told me where she'd hidden the car keys. When we were driving, she suddenly came round and tried to jump from the car, causing me to swerve."

driving without license
consequently driving without insurance
driving rechlessly and dangerously

I should imagine he'd be done for causing the accident, plus the insurance issues and taking a vehicle without consent (so effectively joy riding).

And if he only confessed now, attempting to pervert the course of justice?

George has let this go on for a week. I have no sympathy. He is young but not that young. It’s not the crime, it’s the cover-up that’s the problem. Always the same old story.

Think generally an unfortunate accident, but possible issues with insurance, drinking.

Did she agree, but difficult to prove otherwise, think attempting jumping from the car might appear to be overegging it given her state and seatbelt still fastened, certainly trying to open the door. Why didn’t he just brake then or the number of times before the bridge when she said she wanted to be sick, they cannot have been going that fast unless he was also speeding.

I thought he had a licence

Ah I didn't realise he didn't have a licence.

I was wondering whether he could reduce (not eliminate) blame on him by basically saying "Alice gave me permission to drive her, and then her dangerous behaviour caused me to swerve".

Less trouble than he will be in for sure @TTPD - especially since he immediately phoned the emergency services and then dived in to save Fallon. Perverting the course of justice will be hard to explain away and mitigate for - especially if Alice does something silly in the meantime.

Someone who's been paying closer attention than me remembered that amongst the jobs he's had at Bridge Farm he's been driving their van to do deliveries, so he must have a licence. I am no expert but I'd be surprised if he had insurance that covered him to drive Alice's car. He made an impulsive decision, possibly not unconnected to the amount he'd drunk at the party, and rather than face up to the consequences he's framed Alice for the accident. I have no sympathy for him at all. We know he's dishonest and has form for wriggling out of the consequences of his actions, preferably by implicating someone else. He was the one who damaged Caroline's bench at Grey Gables, but he managed to make it look as if Brad was the main culprit. He, meanwhile, sucked up to Oliver who was too credulous to spot it and gave him money for some reason I can't now remember. Years ago he almost certainly stole the collecting box from St Stephen's and let his great-uncle Alf take the blame.

I think he does. Helen wouldn't have let him drive Henry about if he didn't. I assume she would know.

Thanks to all of you for the update, really appreciate all the time and effort.
All makes sense now and am looking forward to this evening!

I think George fancied driving Alice’s nifty vroomy car and it went wrong. Him driving it with no consent and insurance was a daft choice, however much he cared about Alice getting home safe. I get there’s probably no taxis in the village, but in the real world you’d call someone to collect her and take her home. Will be interesting to see it play out.

He must have done otherwise why would he want to borrow Alice's car? He'd not have been able to drive it without someone seeing.

Agree I think he's got a driving license, whether any current valid insurance is up for debate. I suspect not.

Yes I forgot about the collection box theft, good memory!

You can drive other cars 3rd party with owners consent depending on their insurance.

My feeling is that George was telling the truth when he said that he'd only had one drink. I still personally think he was referring to the fruit cider when he said "it was rank" rather than the party. I've only ever heard 'rank' used to describe things that smell or taste disgusting. However, its also quite possible that the meaning has evolved and I'm just showing my age

I agree with you. He made a big deal in the shop of not wanting it.

He didn't like the cider and described it as rank. He'd describe the party as lame or rubbish.

@BovineUniversity Yes, he actually described the party as rubbish in his voicemail message to Will

I don’t think for a minute that ‘getting Alice home safely’ was the primary motivation. Getting to drive the car, getting one up on her, possible blackmail ammunition, possibly putting Brian (or Chris) under some sort of obligation, seem to me more believable.

I don't see how it can have been on the actual bridge, because that would make a whole lot of noise if a car crashed through its parapet, and we didn't hear that.

It would make more sense if it were at the end of the bridge and they veered off the road into the river but there was definite creaking and teetering

yesterday they mentioned the bridge being closed which I can’t imagine being necessary if it didn’t hit the bridge at all

These details obviously do not matter to archers scripties. They do not get the sleuthing abilities of their listeners, tut tut.
george will crack.

It would be interesting (and I don't think it will happen, but I've been pondering on it for a few days) if George cracked and confessed but no one believed him - they chalked it up to him bring such a kind soul and not wanting Alice to suffer (many of his family do seem to suffer from the delusion that he's a good boy really, just misjudged), or to the stress of the events creating a false memory in him or some such.

This being TA, past masters in talking over each other, a more realistic scenario is that he tries to confess but is interrupted and misinterpreted without being able to get the crucial message across.

It would be a sort of poetic justice (and in this case anti proper justice) if, after all his previous form for covering up the truth to get himself out of trouble and pass the blame, he finds that no one listens when he genuinely tries to own up to something.

If they need to bring in equipment to life a car out of the river then they would probably close the road. In any case, I guess if there's a suspicion that a vehicle might have struck the bridge it could be closed as a precaution until it's been inspected for damage.