If you run over someone with your car, don’t drive away and then brag about it on Twitter. Actually, try not to run over people at all. But if you do, stop your car, assist the person and call an ambulance immediately. Do not do what one young lady in Norwich, England recently did and hit a cyclist with a car, speed away and then brag about the act on Twitter. Because social media vigilantes will hunt you down and make sure that you pay for your crime one way or another.
In Emma Way’s case, her bragging was directed to the Norwich Police, who soon after Tweeted at her to turn herself in, you know, if she actually hit a cyclist and wasn’t just being a hard ass for her 100 or so followers. But right after that, Way’s Twitter account vanished and, because the Internet is full of cold, hard justice, it was discovered that a cyclist was indeed hit and Way’s day got pretty rough.
First, her original Tweet:
Soon after, the Norwich Police were aware of her claim:
It took a little time, but eventually people let the police know that there was indeed a victim, as James Lucas Tweeted that he knew the injured party, adding: “Police are on the case. They had already located her and were just waiting for the victim to come forward. He has contacted them…”
The identity of the cyclist was revealed as Toby Hockley, who was since interviewed about the hit and run by the BBC:
“A car came tearing round the blind corner and narrowly missed a cyclist in front of me,” he said.
“She came on to my side of the road, I took the wing mirror off and I went flying off my bike into a hedge.
“She hit me hard, really hard. I am lucky to be alive.
“But I managed to get out of the hedge and stand up.
“The car was nowhere to be seen. She hit me and she was gone.
“All I know is that it was a blonde girl driving.”
And if the mere idea of being arrested and handled accordingly by the law doesn’t make people like Way think twice, people on the Internet will find out where they work and make sure their employers know what they did. Just like with Way’s employer, Larking Gowen, which issued a statement:
“Thank you for taking the time to email Larking Gowen regarding the tweets posted by one of our employees on their personal twitter account.
“Please be assured that this is not a view held by the firm and we most certainly do not condone this behaviour. We are taking the incidents very seriously, and a full and detailed investigation will be carried out and appropriate action taken. We have already spoken to Norfolk Police.”
Oh, and in one last little dagger twist of irony… road tax doesn’t exist.
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