A 19-year old driver has been plucked from flood waters by a police officer using a rope and then charged with driving without due care and attention.
Another motorist had spotted the teenager and his van caught in floodwaters in Clifton, west of Brisbane, and dialled triple-0.
Sergeant Guy Smidt went to the driver’s rescue in the area known as the Black Gully causeway and found his vehicle stranded in deep floodwater.
The teenager was on the verge of being washed off the causeway and down the creek.
With little time left to act the police officer, helped by the Queensland Fire and Rescue Service (QFRS), reached the trapped driver with a rope.
QFRS officers then dragged the driver and Sgt Smidt to safety. Both men were uninjured.
Not long after the rescue the vehicle was washed off the causeway and was completely submerged.
“If I can pass on one piece of advice to motorists when encountering flood waters that is: If in doubt stay out,” Sgt Smidt said.
The 19-year-old is to appear at the Warwick Magistrates Court on January 25.
Source: www.heraldsun.com.au
