jon_s
01-24-2005, 01:12 PM
This is from a friend...........
"On 1 January 2005 at about 01:20 AM, My son and his wife drove home from
Centurion to the Eastern suburbs where they live.
On the N1 north highway, between the Atterbury and Rigel off-ramps near
Dely Road, a heavy commercial vehicle tyre lay in the fast lane. It was dark
and the black tyre could not be seen on the black tarmac road.
Travelling at 120 kilometers an hour, the car struck the heavy commercial
vehicle tyre, losing a front wheel. The car flipped and crashed into the
field next to the road, about 150 metres from the initial collision.
Directly after the accident, as my son lay dazed and trapped in the
vehicle, next to his injured and unconscious wife, a man looked into what
was left of the vehicle and asked if they where alright. My son, still
dazed, replied that he thought so. The person then robbed them and left them
without providing any assistance.
My son managed to call me on a cell phone hidden in one of his pockets and
asked for help and an ambulance for his wife.
When they managed to get out of the car, a tow-away vehicle driver asked
them to provide their particulars, which they refused to do. The tow-away
vehicle then left.
A little later emergency vehicles and other tow-away trucks arrived and my
son and his wife were taken to hospital for treatment. At the scene we
heard that during the holiday season more than 17 other vehicles had crashed
on the highway in that vicinity, owing to obstacles that had been placed in
the road.
My daughter-in-law had lost her handbag containing her and her husband¹s
documents, so we decided to go back at day-break to look for it.
The next morning when we returned to the scene of the accident we
discovered that two other vehicles had also crashed into a tyre at almost
the same spot where the previous accident had taken place.
By this time we were extremely upset. Although there had been a continuous
stream of accidents, nobody had tried to warn drivers or stop the culprits.
In an accident of this nature all damages - both medical and to the vehicle
- are considered the driver¹s responsibility, as there are no grounds for a
claim to the road accident fund.
We contacted the newspapers to warn other drivers of the dangers on that
specific road, and they in turn contacted the SAPS and Metro police. Neither
had any knowledge of this type of accident.
We tried to lay a charge at the SAPS but they refused, saying it was a case
for the Metro police and that they did not have the manpower to investigate
small incidents such as tyres on roads in a country where rape and murder
occurs frequently and requires all their manpower and available vehicles.
The metro police did not respond to any of our calls.
Please look out for tyres lying along the N1 between the Rigel and
Atterbury off-ramps. The field next to the road has not been cleaned and
there is a multitude of squatters living in the bushes.
The only way we can stop this type of crime is if we can prove that this is
a regular occurrence on South Africa¹s roads, and that these accidents can
lead to financial and health problems for victims, not to mention death.
Please see the attached photographs of the vehicle and the tyre placed on
the road."
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v463/selous/Accidents/ytrf_IMG_0517.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v463/selous/Accidents/ytrf_IMG_0515.jpg
"On 1 January 2005 at about 01:20 AM, My son and his wife drove home from
Centurion to the Eastern suburbs where they live.
On the N1 north highway, between the Atterbury and Rigel off-ramps near
Dely Road, a heavy commercial vehicle tyre lay in the fast lane. It was dark
and the black tyre could not be seen on the black tarmac road.
Travelling at 120 kilometers an hour, the car struck the heavy commercial
vehicle tyre, losing a front wheel. The car flipped and crashed into the
field next to the road, about 150 metres from the initial collision.
Directly after the accident, as my son lay dazed and trapped in the
vehicle, next to his injured and unconscious wife, a man looked into what
was left of the vehicle and asked if they where alright. My son, still
dazed, replied that he thought so. The person then robbed them and left them
without providing any assistance.
My son managed to call me on a cell phone hidden in one of his pockets and
asked for help and an ambulance for his wife.
When they managed to get out of the car, a tow-away vehicle driver asked
them to provide their particulars, which they refused to do. The tow-away
vehicle then left.
A little later emergency vehicles and other tow-away trucks arrived and my
son and his wife were taken to hospital for treatment. At the scene we
heard that during the holiday season more than 17 other vehicles had crashed
on the highway in that vicinity, owing to obstacles that had been placed in
the road.
My daughter-in-law had lost her handbag containing her and her husband¹s
documents, so we decided to go back at day-break to look for it.
The next morning when we returned to the scene of the accident we
discovered that two other vehicles had also crashed into a tyre at almost
the same spot where the previous accident had taken place.
By this time we were extremely upset. Although there had been a continuous
stream of accidents, nobody had tried to warn drivers or stop the culprits.
In an accident of this nature all damages - both medical and to the vehicle
- are considered the driver¹s responsibility, as there are no grounds for a
claim to the road accident fund.
We contacted the newspapers to warn other drivers of the dangers on that
specific road, and they in turn contacted the SAPS and Metro police. Neither
had any knowledge of this type of accident.
We tried to lay a charge at the SAPS but they refused, saying it was a case
for the Metro police and that they did not have the manpower to investigate
small incidents such as tyres on roads in a country where rape and murder
occurs frequently and requires all their manpower and available vehicles.
The metro police did not respond to any of our calls.
Please look out for tyres lying along the N1 between the Rigel and
Atterbury off-ramps. The field next to the road has not been cleaned and
there is a multitude of squatters living in the bushes.
The only way we can stop this type of crime is if we can prove that this is
a regular occurrence on South Africa¹s roads, and that these accidents can
lead to financial and health problems for victims, not to mention death.
Please see the attached photographs of the vehicle and the tyre placed on
the road."
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v463/selous/Accidents/ytrf_IMG_0517.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v463/selous/Accidents/ytrf_IMG_0515.jpg