I set off towards Rondebosch this evening around 20h30 to join some friends at Stardust. The wind was crazy and so I decided to reduce my speed and play it safe, when all of a sudden I saw a Focus in my rearview mirror, sitting right on my tail, I figured the guy wanted to dice, however, due to the extreme wind, I changed lanes as quickly as possible.
The Focus flew past me, it must have been going close on 180km/h, the first corner he went around, he took too quickly and I saw his car wobble, but he corrected the steering, this happened again around a second corner, at this point I was thinking to myself that surely after you wobble twice like that, you SLOW DOWN! Needless to say, we were approaching the final right corner, which leads off De Waal onto Hospital bend. Now, I know that corner well, it bends fairly sharply, but the biggest thing is that there is a bit of a lift in the road, which is difficult to handle at high speeds. I was focused on his break lights, which didn’t come on?!?!? Anyway, he went around the corner, and once I caught up, it was clear that the corner didn’t go well!
He must have hit the lift and not been able to handle the weight of the car on the steering and ended up sliding out. The car was positioned half on the grass (left side of the road) and half on the road, whilst the ENGINE was in the 2nd lane from the center barrier.. that’s 15 odd meters away!
The engine was located BEHIND the red car – I took the image whilst standing next to the crashed vehicle *gasp*
I pulled over, leapt out and run up to the car, at this point I was like waft do I do. Whilst checking his pulse, I called the police and wait for it.. VOICE MAIL?!? Another lady arrived, and she called an ambulance, I let her know that he did have a pulse. I was ashamed to see most of the people who arrived on the scene were more interested in stealing parts of the car and taking photographs whilst the lady and I did what we could to assist. Leaning into that car was terrifying, blood everywhere, the guy (aged 24-28 I guess), had clearly smashed his head against the front windscreen during impact, I saw the air bag on the passenger side, but not one on the drivers side, uhm Ford, wasup?
Long story short, a woman arrived, who was a trained paramedic, she took over and I decided I would leave as I was feeling rather shaky and didn’t want to add extra stress to the situation.
I still wonder why on earth the guy was driving that fast, something wasn’t right, there’s just no way he was just out to drive like that. 180 in a 1600 Focus is pushing it!
I pray that the guy survived.
:S
I just don’t understand how guys get stupid on that road! Its such a stupid road to speed on!
Nowadays, these cars are made so poorly, things just fall apart and everything goes wrong. Trust me…I’ve had to learn this the hard way.
I hope he makes it man!
And yeah, we live in a sick society…ppl stole 300 CD’s and a sound system from my brothers car at his accident scene!
I’m still convinced that there’s more to the story though, I’ve been driving a long time, I’ve been through driving like an idiot, etc. and there was something different about what he was doing, it was almost unconscious driving, as if he was rushing to save someone in trouble or something – hard to explain.
But you’re right, cars these days are built like rubbish and anything can go wrong at any point.
I hope he makes it as well, you and I have both lost family members to the roads, it’s awful and no one deserves it.
I was just blown away, people stealing engine bits man, shocking!
That stretch of road is relentless, it seems. I wonder what he was chasing for? His side of the story would definitely prove interesting.
Indeed, hospital bend is a scary place. I would love to know his side of the story, but I don’t want to think about it too much, there was so much blood I almost passed out :/
You have to be amazed at the composure of the paramedics!
Those guys do SUCH an AMAZING job! And its all selfless…
Wow Chris. Its amazing how certain people are meant to be at one place at a precise moment. Tonight you were that man’s angel. Whether he survives or not, he needed you there with him.
Before I go to bed tonight I’ll put a little thought out there for him and for you. A shock like that shouldn’t be ignored, I hope while I am typing this out you are resting and recovering from the horrid evening.
Well done my friend, you did a great thing for someone today. I now join you in hoping he survives to thank you for it one day…
Thanks SheBee, that really is special of you :)
I’m alright though, it was a horrible experience, but we all face them and they make us stronger. The thing that’s going to bug me more than anything is why on earth he drove like that. I can’t explain it, it was different to the normal *Shurg*
Anyway, thanks a million hun – You’re a star!
I know, I’m a curious person at heart and to tell you the truth, I would be driving myself nuts thinking of all the possible explanations.
Go get some R & R!
I shall do so =)
Hey Chris, I drove past the accident last night when the cops and paramedics were already on the scene.
It was a really sickening sight, and I can only hope that the driver is ok. Much kudos to you for stopping to help out! It’s something very simple to do but that a lot of people wouldn’t.
I couldn’t believe the engine just lying in the middle of the road. Amazing that somebody didn’t hit it before the police stopped behind it.
How awful!
Hectic Chris … sorry you had to go through that but wow, you did a Good Thing!
Some people are truly disgusting – stealing parts of a car at an accident scene? WTF!?
Chris, I saw the same accident, have just done a write-up at http://www.southafrica.to/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=6
if he was doing 180 & you keeping to 120 how did you see him all the time :P
Speed limit on the road is 80km/h
Well done for taking the trouble to stop and do what you could – so many people would not have done so. It must have been awful for you and no doubt the question re: why he was driving like that is going to haunt you.
My brother died from driving way too fast and over the alco limit at the age of 22 – it makes me SO mad when I see people doing the same. Why don’t they realise that none of us are invincible!
@SheBee Thank goodness you said what I wanted to say. Had I said it … lol.
@Carlos – was a scary sight wasn’t it? I think the fact that the engine was halfway across the road increased the awareness of the severity of the accident.
@justB[coz] – I’m feeling a lot better today about it, not so haunting! I couldn’t believe it, I wanted to run up to the people stealing parts and smack them around a bit :/
@South Africa – I don’t have an account on the forum unfortunately :( 80km/h, correct.
@Anthony – Well, it was the distance from where he over took me and the corner he crashed wasn’t too far, I didn’t see him crash though, only saw that once I came around the bend, etc.
@Gill – My adreneline (spel) kicked in, I think that’s how I handled it, because I don’t go well with blood and it didn’t affect me at all. Aw shame, sorry to hear about out brother – I lost my cousin, aged 22, when 2 ADT vans jumped a red robot and hit him side on :(
The tragic truth is that we often get away with reckless behavior – and we need to experience these scenes to change our ways!When I started the Arrive Alive website I was warned that raising awareness is an uphill battle becaus of the feeling of “invincibility” amongst the youth…Let us not forget that our conduct impacts on others as well!!
Let it not be said that speed is not dangerous!
These days I find so many drivers in the Garden Route doing such unbelievable speed, it just shocks me. I am no angel when it comes to speeds and local friends have given me the nickname “Michael Schumacher” huh do I drive that badly?
What amazes me is that even though I may be nicknamed the “Michael Schumacher” of plett, I still find people driving much much faster than me. When you are driving 120/140kmph and someone overtakes you so fast it looks like you are parked next to the road what speed are they doing?
The other day I was pushed on the N2 in the Crags by a huge truck, the speed limit is 80kmph and overtaking is very risky as lanes are small, but this guy wanted to come past at all cost, I was not in the position to give way safely and so I tried to outrun him while still being safe, anyway when we eventually reached 180km per hour, I decided that I could no longer safely outrun this idiot, who btw was flashing lights and waving his fist, anyway luckily there was space for him to overtake, so I gave way, and would u believe could not catch him again. (his brakes where not failing it is a long windy road not a steep downhill – he was also not in an emergency, I found him later at the tollgate, parked off – many trucks spend the night at tollgates in our area, its like their rest spot) So why the hell was he driving so fast, as the tolgate was only 11km from where he pushed me?
This is not the first time this has happened to me in this area, and there are constantly deaths on the local roads because some people are pigs and do not obey the rules.
There is never an excuse to break the limit! There is also never an excuse to jump robots, even if you are a policeman, paramedic or ADT! K53 is there for a reason and even if jumping the robot legally such as an official it needs to be done safely family. Although I sympathize with this guy, because who am I to judge the situation? I still feel if you speed, you will get what is coming. Eish it’s so good to hear no one else was badly hurt in this accident.
Speed kills, obey the limit!
Ps. We all make mistakes, Lets hope this guy gets a second chance..
oops my comment is almost longer than ChrisM’s Blog post. Oops sorry Chris, I sometimes blabber when the subject is close to the heart..
F&^% man thats heavy!! Every body knows that corner is the worse!! You need to stay in the right hand lane if you planning on flying through that corner!! iv come almost stuck as well when i had my semis on the car!!
Its horrible Experiencing an accident like that especially when you know it could have been you!!
iv reduced my speed racer vibe by 70% these days as accidents are occurring way to often these days! ask lyall about his incident yesterday!
I hope u learn from this chyna! Slow your roll!
I pray he survives too
Lessons have been learnt by everyone who reads this thread. Horrible to think that we all learn from someone elses expensive, but unfortunately it’s often that, which makes us realise.
Very brave and awesome of you to stop hun, not many people would do that – takes a lot of guts!
I’ve seen far too many burnt out wrecks and speeding, swerving, erratic drivers making their perilous way down that road for many, many years. Sadly, those drivers either think they can’t ever crash, or they’re just drunk and or stupid enough to not think about it at all.
The last bad accident I saw was about a year or two ago, and the burnt out car was left on the verge by the corner for a good few weeks. It should have stayed there permanently, may have made a few more people slow down a bit.
Once again, well done – and also sending positive thoughts to the driver.
Thanks Rox, it was horrible, but I was there at the time it happened and he needed help, so I provided as best as I could.
Absolutely, I pray that the guy is well!
P.s. How was Picketburg?
When he recovers, I hope to hell he learns a valuable lesson about driving like a maniac!
P.S. Hermanus was awesome. ;-)
Agreed!
I’m off to Clan William on Thursday and the Yzerfontein on Friday :)
I think you did good, Chris. Most people wouldn’t stop.
The looters should be shot right where they stand on the highway.
Absolutely, people will always speed! Just yesterday I was driving from town through to Rondebosch and I saw someone FLYING down hospital bend and I just shivered!
Hi Chris
Most airbags today will not be activated unless a seatbelt is worn. You’ll see SRS Airbag written somewhere (Second Restraint Something). An airbag without a seatbelt can cause a lot more damage than no airbag at all.
Interesting, I didn’t know that! A couple people asked me if he was wearing one and I honestly can’t remember..