From Arrive Alive News Section

Passenger bus crushes Audi in Pretoria

Thu, 09 Feb 2012 11:50:00 +0200

9 February 2012

A passenger bus crashed into an Audi at the corners of Ben Swart and Freight Road in Pretoria.

Paramedics arrived at the scene to find that the Audi was stuck underneath the front of the bus and they could not get the driver out. The man in his 30's was alert and able to speak to paramedics but he was complaining of severe pain. They assessed him while they called in heavy duty rescuers to remove the bus from on top of the car. The man had sustained broken bones in his legs and was stabilised by paramedics while the bus was removed.

The man was further stabilised on scene once he was removed from the car and was taken by ambulance to Steve Biko Academic Hospital in Pretoria.

The bus driver was the only one in the bus at the time of the accident and he was fortunately left with no physical injuries.

The police will need to investigate what the cause of the accident was.

Vanessa Jackson, ER24

Worker crushed in Pietermaritzburg accident

Thu, 09 Feb 2012 08:33:25 +0200

9 February 2012

A worker suspected to be in his fifties died after his truck plunged about twenty five meters down an embankment in Pietermaritzburg this morning at around 05h40. Reports from the scene indicate that the vehicle was at his depot in Ortman Road Willowton when for reasons still unknown the truck plunged over the embankment .

Netcare 911 paramedics arrived at the scene and found that the driver tried to jump out of the vehicle but landed under the rear wheels of the trailer . Tragically the man died on scene due to the extensive injuries that he sustained.

41 injured in 2 taxi accidents

Wed, 08 Feb 2012 09:37:51 +0200

8 February 2012

Two taxi accidents this morning has left 41 people injured.

The first accident happened at the corners of Ruimte Road and Chris Hougaard Street in Wierdapark. A bakkie and a taxi collided when one of the vehicles is believed to have crossed over the intersection at the wrong time. The front of the bakkie was damaged while the left side of the taxi had been damaged.

All of the 23 patients from both vehicles had sustained minor to moderate injuries only and they were all taken per ambulance to either Kalafong or Unitas Hospital for further care.

The second accident, witnessed by one of the ER24 paramedics on her way to work, happened on the N3 at the Gilooly's Interchange in Bedfordview.

The driver of the taxi seemed to have suddenly lost control and the vehicle rolled across the road. A white VW Golf was then knocked by the taxi.

18 people in the taxi needed assessment and treatment for only minor to moderate injuries while fortunately none of the occupants of the Golf had been injured.

All 18 of the taxi's occupants were taken by ambulance to hospitals in the surrounding area.

Police who attended the separate incidents will investigate the actual causes.

Vanessa Jackson, ER24

Heavy-duty trucks blamed for road damage in North West and Mpumalanga

Tue, 07 Feb 2012 08:08:28 +0200

7 February 2012

Heavy-duty trucks are causing many of the road safety and infrastructure problems in Mpumalanga and North West, Deputy Transport Minister Jeremy Cronin said on Tuesday.

The presidential infrastructure co-ordinating commission had identified the two provinces as having "serious challenges" around road safety and infrastructure, he told the parliamentary committee on transport.

"Much of it has to do with the movement of heavy trucks," he said during a briefing by the Road Traffic Management Corporation

"Both are mining provinces through which heavy duty vehicles are moving, causing huge damage to road infrastructure."

He said much of the freight transport should be on railways and not on roads.

The department was working with public enterprises and Transnet in looking at branch railway lines.

However, there had not been a great appetite from the private sector to operate from these lines.

In general, road freight was not as effectively regulated as it should be and was an area government had to "push into".

The department had to move towards periodic vehicle testing to checks for roadworthiness.

"Stopping a vehicle on the road creates a visible presence which is part of getting a different mindset of road users," said Cronin.

The department was considering "periodic vehicle testing" as was applied to public transport vehicles, which were tested every six months.

"We have to start to make sure that apart from stopping vehicles on the road, there is a proper testing of vehicles," he said.

"And the priority should be given to heavy vehicles - the freight vehicles."

Many freight hauliers were responsible but there were a lot of "fly by night operators".

Cronin said government was trying to expand the mandate of the SA National Roads Agency Limited (Sanral).

The department was looking at increasing co-operation between provinces and Sanral.

"We want to assist provinces in project management, tendering, and proper prioritisation," he said.

"It is something we want to roll out generally."

- SAPA

Also view:

Overloading and Road Safety

Motorcyclist Injured After Handle Bars Move Forward

Tue, 07 Feb 2012 10:06:57 +0200

7 February 2012

A woman believed to be in her late forty’s has sustained serious injuries after she fell off her motor bike at the corners of New Market and Selwyn Road in Woodstock this morning.

ER24 paramedics arrived on the scene and found the motorcyclist lying on the road with the bike just a few meters away from her. The patient was assessed and found that she was in a lot of pain due to the injuries she had sustained to her stomach, shoulder and ankle from the accident. Advanced Life Support intervention was performed on the patient before she was transported to a nearby hospital in a serious but stable condition.

Paramedics were informed by the patient that her handle bars to her bike came loose causing them to move forward. This caused the motorcyclist to lose control and fall over. She slid on her side with the bike for a few meters before coming to a halt next to the pavement.

Derrick Banks, ER24