Cop cruiser makes unmanned U-turn on McRae

The excitement at Bayview Ave. and Merton/McRae tonight (Thursday, August 7, 2014) was when the police cruiser parked on McRae Drive slowly began to move. It had all its lights flashing so when it slowly began a giant U-turn on McRae back towards Bayview, motorists and pedestrians were somewhat awestruck. The guys in the Pizza Hut store on the corner had a pretty good view. “We thought maybe a kid had sneaked into the car and was stealing it,” said one of the several workers in the shop. “But then when it was right around and coming back at us we could see there was nobody inside.” Indeed. The officer, seen with his vehicle top inset, had gotten out of his car to investigate what witnesses called a minor fender bender in the intersection. He parked the car safely (he thought) off the intersection with the front wheels turned out against the curb. There is a slight grade downward towards Bayview and he did want the car to roll back out into that main street. But alas, the vehicle was primed to head the other way. It made a complete turn as other drivers stopped and watched and then headed across Bayview, lights flashing, and went up onto the sidewalk on the west side before stopping. The activity brought Councillor Matlow (Ward 22) down to the corner from his nearby home to see what was happening. We can only echo his tweeted sentiment that happily no one was hurt.