Horror truck accident: Drivers blame each other
Sharon Mathala | Thursday September 15, 2016 15:35
The driver of the truck, which swerved onto the deceased man’s Golf 4 and the Mazda Demio found near the crash site, are pointing fingers at each other for causing the accident that shocked the nation on Friday.
Social media pictures of the accident stunned many, while Mmegi sister paper, The Monitor, revealed on Monday that the deceased’s mother and sister died in an accident on their way after hearing of his accident. In statements before the police, the two surviving motorists both claimed that the traffic light had given them right of way before the accident. Division Traffic Officer, Reginald Matlhaba said no one has been charged yet.
“Their statements are different. Both drivers argue that they had right of way and that the other should have stopped. “At this point, we will only rely on eyewitness accounts. We have managed to identify two credible eyewitnesses and thus far, we have only managed to interview one. The other is currently out of the country,” he said. Initial reports on Friday from witnesses claimed the truck driver had swerved to avoid a collision after the Mazda Demio drove at high speed into the intersection.
Police also confirmed that whichever driver was guilty was likely to face a charge of causing death due to reckless driving.
The penalty for the offence is a prison term not exceeding five years. Police expect to complete their investigations this week and the accused will appear in court for the charges next week. The deceased lost his life after his vehicle was not only crushed by the truck’s trailers, but was also buried under the tonnes of sand the truck was carrying at the time.
First responders were unable to retrieve him due to the weight of the truck and the sand.