Close Call & Booming Business For Window Cleaners

 Bernard Saupe with his car. The dent on the bonnet shows where the brick landed before bouncing up on to the windscreen. Click to enlarge.

Yobs hurl brick at car from Portsmouth bridge: If it had been thrown half a second later, Bernard Saupe would have been killed by a brick that crashed through his windscreen as he drove at 70mph. The 64-year-old has told of his shock and anger after yobs dropped the missile on to his car from a bridge as he drove on the motorway to work. It hit the bonnet, bounced up and cracked his windscreen – but somehow the window cleaner managed to keep control of his car and avoided crashing.

It happened as Mr Saupe drove underneath the A27 footbridge that links Hilsea to the Highbury Estate, at 9.30am on Wednesday. ‘I was half a second from death,’ said Mr Saupe, of Lake Road, Landport. ‘The police told me if I had been half a second later I would have been killed and it could have caused a massive pile-up. ‘I’m lucky it hit my bonnet, because otherwise it would have come straight through and hit me right in the face.

‘I honestly don’t know how I kept control of the car, the bang was the loudest thing I’ve heard in my life. ‘By the time I looked up whoever dropped it had gone. ‘Now I just feel so angry – there could have been kids in my car. ‘I thought I just have to warn people to watch out. If they did it once they would do it again. In the end they are going to kill someone.’

Head of road safety for the AA Andrew Howard said the motoring organisation was concerned such incidents are on the increase. ‘The number of reports we are getting seems to suggest it is getting worse,’ he said. ‘It was especially bad last week and we suspected that was due to it being half-term.’ Cosham safer neighbourhoods Sergeant Guy Farmer said: ‘Fortunately, on this occasion the driver was uninjured and due to his quick thinking and calm reaction was able to prevent a further collision. ‘Throwing bricks or other items on to the motorway from a footbridge could have very serious consequences. ‘This type of behaviour may begin as a prank but has real potential to lead to a tragic conclusion.’ He added: ‘Those identified to be involved could face life-changing repercussions.’

Shine-Eze Window Care struggles to stay ahead of growing workload: Contrary to many businesses in the Comox Valley, Shine-Eze Window Care has come to the tough decision of either expanding or turning business away. Dwayne Robertson, owner, established Shine-Eze Window Care in 1998, building his business on the ethics of offering only quality workmanship and good customer service. In 14 years this has grown to a commercial and residential customer base of over 3000 regular customers.

Dwayne's business began with offering only window cleaning to residential and small commercial businesses and has since expanded to include new construction window cleaning, gutter cleaning, and vinyl siding cleaning. With training in the use of everything from a 6" squeegee to an 85' boom lift his clientele now includes everyone from the small "Mom & Pop" businesses to St. Joseph's Hospital and CFB Comox. While Shine-Eze is open year round, crunch time is always in the spring when everyone wants to be rid of the winter haze on their windows.

Normally by this time of year Dwayne is booking three months in advance; however this year seems extraordinary. Currently Dwayne is booked solid from mid-March until the beginning of July. Many of Dwayne's regular customers have learned the hard way that if you don't book your spring cleaning in the fall your spring cleaning soon becomes a summer cleaning. To deal with the overflow of business Dwayne has begun the tedious process of hiring extra staff and contemplating starting a third truck and crew. If you or anyone you know is interested in a dynamic work environment where you get to see all aspects of the valley, you can email Dwayne at shine-eze@shaw.ca

More booming business for Pryors window cleaning in the UK as well..