Between Friday and Saturday nights, paramedics were kept busy attending to several bizarre and serious collisions in and around Randburg.
23h07 Friday 15 May 2009, Harley street and Vine Avenue, Ferndale:
It appeared that the driver of the car simply did not negotiate the sharp corner at the bottom of the hill and went straight thereby landing in a storm water culvert near to the local stream in the park. Paramedics attended to the driver who was not injured and his two male passengers who both sustained head injuries. Despite the paramedics advice, the injured refused medical treatment and hospital transportation.
This incident was attended to by Netcare 911 and the SAPS.
11h25 Saturday 16 May 2009, Jan Smuts and Lanchester avenues, Craighall Park:
A Toyota collided with the side of a Golf that was travelling towards Hyde Park, the Golf driver then seemed to loose control and the car went off the road and through what used to be an outdoor show room for a car dealership before smashing into a perimeter wall. A portion of the more than 3m high wall then collapsed. The rest of the wall was badly damaged and will have to be rebuilt. There was a guard house for a military base on the other side of the wall, fortunately this did not collapse and the guard was not injured. The front of the car had sustained severe impact damage and paramedics were astonished to find that the technology and safety features in the luxury car had protected the driver so well that he literally escaped without a scratch. The driver of the second car was not injured.
This incident was attended to by Netcare 911 and the Metro Police.
16h45 Saturday 16 May 2009, Olievenhout and Drysdale roads in Northgate:
It was alleged that a female learner driver of a Ford did not stop at a red traffic light when exiting the Northgate shopping centre and was “T-boned” on the passenger side by a Honda MPV. Both vehicles sustained serious damaged, they could not be driven and had to be towed from the scene. The young children were transported by the father from the scene and all of the other victims refused medical treatment and hospital transportation.
This incident was attended to by Netcare 911, provincial fire and ambulance service.
20h50 Saturday 16 May 2009, Beyers Naude near to the informal settelment, Honeydew:
Paramedics from three private services as well as the provincial fire and ambulance service responded to reports of a very serious head-on collision between two cars. Eye witnesses alleged that one of the drivers was veering all over the road before the collision. Fire fighters had to use the “jaws of life” to free the driver from the car (pictured) and had to remove the dashboard for his legs before he could be removed. He had sustained several injuries and was in a serious condition. A pregnant passenger was also in a serious condition while the male passenger was in a more stable condition. The driver of the second car ran away from the scene following the collision and could not be found. The patients were transported by other ambulances to the Laratong and Flora hospitals. Metro Police and SAPS also attended to the incident.
22h17 Saturday 16 May 2009, Drysdale road, Northgate:
Paramedics from Netcare 911 as well as the provincial fire and ambulance services attended to the incident. It appeared that the car had missed judged the bend in the road and had driven straight, then crossed over onto oncoming traffic before leaving the road and travelling on the shoulder of the road before simply falling into a large hole on the side of the road. The car came to rest standing on its “head” with the rear of the car up in the air, about half of the car was below the ground level. Earth works have been occurring on the side of Drysdale road for several months and several large holes have been dug to bury underground pipes but not all of the holes have been covered up yet. The man, who was alone and was driving his girlfriends car, was not injured in the incident.
Nick Dollman
mobilemedia
Netcare 911