George Michael escapes unhurt after rear-ending Scots truck convoy

Aug 15 2009 Keith McLeod

Singer George Michael slammed into the rear of a lorry convoy at high speed - and walked away unhurt.The former Wham! star's Range Rover was dragged around 100 yards under one of the trucks, which were being sent south by a Scots firm.The 46-year-old singer was arrested by cops when he emerged from the wreckage of his luxury car. But tests for drink and drugs proved negative.The singer, whose hits with Wham! included Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go and Club Tropicana, was released with out charge.Meanwhile, friends said lorry driver LawrieBowe, who was driving the rear vehicle in the eight-truck convoy, was shocked but uninjured.Pal GeorgeCampbell said: "Lawrie was doing about 50mph at thetime."The lorries were in a loose convoy."Lawrie said he sawthe silver Range Rover in his rear-view mirror going from lane to lane."Maybe Michael was trying to weave his way past the convoy. But he must have been travelling pretty fast not to have seen a lorry in front of him."And the fact that the lorry was going at around 50 to 55 would have cushioned the impact to some degree. Lawrie and the other drivers are amazed that George Michael walked away from this at all."Maybe it shows that Range Rovers are extra safe after all."Lawrie and the other guys couldn't believe who had crashed into him."Lawrie went to the police and gave a statement. He had done absolutely nothing wrong at all."You just don't expect someone to slam into the back of yourvehicle."And you don't expect that it's going to be George Michael. But he has been very, verylucky."Lawrie's actions in coming to a safe halt probably saved George Michael."Michael's Range Rover became entangled in the lorry's rear axle after the collision at 1am yesterday on the A34, at Chieveley, near Reading, Berkshire.The lorries were being sent south for export to Kenya by Glasgow export firm Bowcom International.George Campbell added: "There seems to have been a lot of confusion after the crash as you might expect."George Michael did not offer any explanation for what happened as far as we can tell."A collision report document relating to the crash obtained by the Record shows that the star gave his real name of Georgios Panayiotou.A spokesman for Thames Valley police confirmed the star, who lives in a £5million mansion in Highgate, London, hadbeen arrested .The spokesman said: "At around 1am on Friday morning officers were called to a road traffic collision on the southbound carriageway of the A34 two miles north of the M4."The collision involved a silver Range Rover and an articulated lorry."The driver of the Range Rover, a 46-year-old man, was arrested at the scene and taken to a police station. He was released without charge."In 2007, Michael admitted driving while unfit through drugs.Tests showed his blood contained anti-depressants, cannabis, and GHB, known as liquid ecstasy.In 2006, he was found slumped behind the wheel of his car in London.Police found cannabis and GHB in the car but he maintained he was not under the influence of drugs or alcohol.Also in 2006, he was accused of hitting three parked cars and failing to stop but was cleared.Michael's most notorious brush with the law came in 1998, whenhe was detained for lewd conduct in a public toilet in Los Angeles by an undercover police officer.The experience prompted him to write the song Outside.