Terry Williams and his two passengers were spared any injuries from the incident earlier this week

Terry Williams of Oakwood Cars and (inset) the tree which fell on the road

An Enfield cab driver has been hailed as a “hero” for his actions behind the wheel when a large tree fell on the road ahead of him.

Terry Williams, who has worked for cab firm Oakwood Cars for around ten years, was driving two women along a rural road when the tree began to fall. Instead of braking, however, Terry used the instincts he’d previously honed during a past life as a racing driver – and sped towards the falling tree.

Doing this, as well as swerving into the opposite lane of the road, meant that Terry’s cab avoided the tree trunk as it landed. The vehicle was instead hit by a number of smaller branches – sparing everyone inside what would likely have been serious or even fatal injuries.

Terry’s cab windscreen was smashed and he and his passengers were all covered in glass but, aside from the shock of the crash, they were able to walk away unscathed.

Speaking to the Dispatch afterwards, Terry said that had he braked when the tree began to fall, his cab would likely have smashed straight into it, with numerous branches piercing the windscreen and potentially impaling him and his passengers.

“We are quite lucky to be alive,” said Terry, who lives in Bush Hill Park.

“I am quite an experienced driver, I’ve done two million miles, and I’ve done motor racing, so my instinct was to accelerate rather than brake, to minimise the damage.

“If I had slammed my foot on the brake, we would have had a much harder impact. I didn’t panic and took control of the car.”

The incident happened in Buckinghamshire, on the A404 between High Wycombe and Amersham, on Wednesday (3rd) at around 9am. Terry’s passengers were Susan Jamson, who works as a PR manager for Chickenshed Theatre in Southgate, and Susan’s adult daughter Emma Cambridge, who performs with the charity.

Susan told the Dispatch: “Terry was amazing and really did save our lives. Apparently he used to race cars and he used that knowledge to save us.

“We were covered in glass but other than that we were fine. We will be forever indebted to him. He is a hero.”

Terry’s father was a racing driver and as a young man he followed in his footsteps, taking part in ‘hot rod’ and banger racing, before later becoming a cabbie.

The damage to Terry’s cab, which could have been much worse

To book a cab with Oakwood Cars and their heroic drivers:
Visit oakwoodcars-online.com/consumer/#/booking

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