Tyres to Die For?

The desire for a squeaky clean, lustrous set of tyres nearly claimed the life of a 48 year old US man on October 30. Hummer driver Merle C. Sorenson from Washington State was enjoying an evening with four buddies when the urge to ‘clean the rubber’ struck. What occurred next is, so they say, not something you should try at home.

According to local newspaper The Omak-Okanogan County Chronicle, at 11.30pm emergency call dispatchers in Grant County, Washington received a call from a man claiming a vehicle he was a passenger in had ended up in the Columbia River, 500 feet from a boat launch ramp – and four of his friends were still inside. When various local rescue services arrived on the scene they discovered that a vehicle was indeed in the water, albeit considerably closer than the 500 feet claimed by the caller. Three of the four remaining occupants had already escaped from the water ensconced Hummer, however the driver remained trapped, pinned between the seat and the steering wheel, with only his head remaining above the water.

“Fire District Three personnel were able to secure a line to the back of the vehicle and were able to move the vehicle far enough out of the water to save Sorenson before he slipped farther down the boat launch and drown,” reported Grant County sheriff John Turley. Following his rescue, Sorenson was asked to offer a motive behind his automotive ablutions. According to Turley, he informed law enforcement officers that we wanted to clean his tyres. Sorenson also informed the sheriff, with admirable honesty, that he was “not thinking” and that he “drove into the water at the boat launch to see how far he could go into the water with his vehicle and still back out.”

Mr. Sorenson was transported to local hospital, where he was treated for mild hypothermia and released. The other occupants of the Hummer, said the sheriff, recovered from their ordeal by spending time in the hot tub at a nearby condominium.