Collision Course (Hinton novel)

Plot

On his evening walk one Wednesday night fifteen-year-old Ray got tempted by a Honda 125 motorbike outside a pub with its engine running so he got on and went for a joyride. He rode to the neighbouring village of Blackston and on his way back to the city he collided with a woman, who he saw earlier in an Austin Mini, and killed her. Ray walked back to the city and decided to take the bus rather than walk home in his weakened state. However, when the conductor came to collect the fare Ray remembered that he did not have any money on him so the conductor asked for his name and address so the company could send him a bill. Ray gave him fake details and was reminded not to go on the bus without any money and when he got home he went straight to bed and locked the door to hide his injuries from his family.

In the morning Ray washed the blood from his pillow case, hair and the inside of his hood then checked the daily newspaper. On page six was a report about the collision saying that police investigations were underway.

That afternoon in school the history teacher chose that day to teach them about Sir Robert Peel and developments in the police force including crime detection methods. A girl in the class asked a question about whether it was true that only 40% of all crimes were detected and solved then a couple of other pupils also heard about that figure reassuring Ray about the fallibility of the police. At the end of the school day Ray found on the notice board that he made it onto the school football team as a reserve but on his way out he saw a police car pull into the school gates so Ray went back in see what it was about. Ray waited outside the headmaster’s office trying to listen but only caught a few short words. Back home Ray’s mother told him that his grandmother was ill which she was worried about and he made her more upset when he told her that he forgot to buy the sausages for tea that he promised her he would get. In the bath Ray thought about committing suicide using a razor blade but decided against it deciding that he would get through the whole affair of his guilt.

The next morning at breakfast Ray checked the local weekly paper and it had a report of the hit and run incident on the front page where the woman was named as Mrs. Maureen Chalmers and the police were still trying to trace the rider of the stolen bike. At the table Ray was taken ill and his mother told him to stay home and rest then he reassured her that he would be all right at home whilst she visited her mother who had the doctor round.

In the afternoon Ray felt better and decided to go to school. When he got there his friend Dave Fitzroy told him that Mrs. Chalmers was the wife of a school governor so they had a minutes silence and prayers for her in assembly that morning. After English and PE lessons he went home where his mother told him that grandma was not too good and the doctor said she would have to go to hospital for a check-up.

That evening Ray went for a ride on his push bike having the urge to return to the scene of the crime. At the collision site was a signboard with a police appeal for witnesses.

The next morning Ray had a football match with the school team at another school. Rays team won though he injured an opponent by accident but his team mates and PE teacher agreed that it was a fair tackle.

At home that afternoon Ray was told that grandma was much worse and she would probably have to have an operation. After lunch Ray stayed behind to look after his eight-year-old brother Derek, from whom their parents kept Grandma’s illness secret, while they went back to the hospital. After they left Ray decided to write a letter to the police to get them off the scent. He cut and pasted the words out of newspapers and wrote the address with his left hand to make it untraceable. He made it seem like he was older, lived outside the area and was going to commit suicide then he waited for an opportunity to post it from another area.

That evening he went to a party round Chris Gilligan’s house, whose parents were out, to celebrate the football victory. After getting drunk on wine Ray met a girl named Anna who he liked and danced with her. Just before he left Anna told Ray that he could phone her and her number was in the book.

When Ray got home he slept until 12.35 in the day. His parents were out but Derek told him that they were round Grandma’s then they came back for lunch. Mum told Ray that someone had to go and see Grandma again but was concerned that Derek would get suspicious if his parents went twice in one day so she suggested that Ray went instead. The family car broke down so Ray had to take the bus to the hospital after lunch.

When Ray got there he walked past his Grandmother who had changed almost beyond recognition. When he found her he talked about the football match, the party and meeting Anna. Whilst he was waiting for the next bus Ray found a photograph in the Foyer with Mrs. Chalmers in a group presenting a hospital bus. He telephoned Anna after finding her number but felt nervous now that he was no longer under the influence of the wine. Before he got on the bus he met his friend Dave’s mother and they went on together. To his shock Ray saw that the conductor was the same as the one on the night of the collision so Ray kept his head down. There was a delay whilst Mrs. Fitzroy was hoping to get change for a note then the conductor recognized Ray.

Ray ran from the bus and darted down side streets and hid in an open garage to catch his breath. He went to the hospital to ask the receptionist about Grandma to explain why he got off the bus then Ray decided that he needed to pull himself together so he went to the cinema. He phoned home to before he went in to explain to Derek who answered then the cashier let him without checking his age in despite the film being age restricted.

After the film Ray phoned home and was told that the police were round the house where they found the letter that Ray left on his bedside table hoping to get an opportunity to post it. Dad told him that they thought he was dead and they wanted him to come home.

Concept

After getting bored with a book he was using whilst teaching English the author's class suggested he wrote something better. Hinton thought about an ordinary boy like the boys in his class who did something crazy. The class enjoyed the story and encouraged him to get it published.

Award

Collision Course won the Dutch Silver Pen prize in 1978.

Revisions

The first revision came in 1980 when Penguin Books published Collision Course under their Puffin Books brand. Penguin toned down the language with most of the profanity removed or replaced with euphemisms but otherwise they remained largely faithful to the first edition and continued using Oxford spelling.

In later editions the other publishers modernized the references to culture and technology from the 1970s and exact prices removed though they retained the Oxford spelling.

Collision Course was first published on E-Books in 2013 though with poor proofreading (e.g. there are spaces missing, wrong figures used and Mr. Raines was incorrectly named the RE teacher instead of the PE teacher).

The table below lists the differences between the first edition and the 2004 and 2009 revisions.