Hingham driver finds teen passed out on road early Friday morning

HINGHAM, Mass. — A driver in Hingham came across a person passed out in the middle of a road in the town around 4:30 a.m. on Friday, according to local police.

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Officials describe that person as a teen college student, who was, allegedly, passed out drunk on the road just over a blind hill. The driver of the vehicle stopped to protect the teen.

"I thought it was an animal that was hit by a car," said Mohamed Jaouhari, the Uber driver who discovered the teen.

He told Boston 25 News over the phone that, as he got closer, he realized it was a teenager lying in the street.

"I was scared because I thought he was dead," Jaouhari said. "I've never seen a dead person in my life."

He called 911 and was able to determine that the teenaged boy was breathing.

"The officer was able to wake him up," said Sgt. Steven Dearth of Hingham Police. "It was a teenager a teenaged boy under 21 who was home from college and he was heavily intoxicated."

Police say the teen wouldn’t tell them where he was coming from, but, other than signs of intoxication, he was physically ok and won’t be charged.

But it could have easily ended very differently. Even at 4:30 in the morning, there are still travelers on Cushing Road. Where he was lying is also a blind hill.

"At that hour too, you have to be concerned about someone who may be buzzed, under the influence of alcohol, or exhausted, or tired, or looking at their phone – distracted, not paying enough attention to see there’s someone in the road," Sgt. Dearth said.

Police say the Uber driver did the right thing by stopping and blocking traffic.

"We really think he made the difference here and could have saved this teen’s life," Sgt. Dearth said.

"It was at least [a] happy ending, it was very happy that he was alive," Jaouhari said.

"Certainly, you don't expect a person to be lying in the middle of the road," Sgt. Dearth said. "So we are very fortunate this wasn't a tragic situation."

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