A horrific accident claims one life

Lindiwe Mozola | Tuesday January 24, 2017 16:47

Palapye traffic officer, assistant superintendent Obonetse Tuelo confirmed the heartbreaking accident, which happened on Sunday night around 10pm  involving a Toyota Altezza and Renault Truck.

“Altezza motor vehicle came from the western direction and collided with the truck which was from the east. 

Although investigations are still at an infancy stage we suspect that the Toyota Altezza tried to overtake the car that was in front and misjudged the direction of the coming truck hence colliding with it,” he said.

Tuelo further stated that the deceased (Altezza driver) was certified dead at the scene while his passenger is still nursing serious injuries.   He also confirmed that the accident was horrific and the Altezza was damaged beyond repair.  He cautioned motorists against over speeding while they drive around the village because there is a lot of pedestrian movement including children. “It is just fortunate because it happened at night while people were sleeping.

If it was daylight we could be talking of another story maybe more lives could have been lost. Time and again we advise motorists to be cautious when driving on the roads within the village, but they turn a deaf ear hence killing some innocent people,” Tuelo said.

Meanwhile, Tuelo said that on Saturday, still in Palapye near Lotsane Senior Secondary School, a Toyota Dyna vehicle veered off the road and hit  and damaged a house nearby. He said fortunately there were no fatalties as only the driver suffered fractured leg.

He further stated that they are also investigating a case in which a reversing car hit a one-year-old boy.

Tuelo said that according to their investigations, the driver did not see the boy who was behind the car due to lack of visibility as it was at night.

He revealed that since the beginning of the month, they have recorded 30 accidents with two fatalities, two serious injuries and the rest being minor injuries. He stated that this is a large number looking at the fact that it is the first month of the year.

“Although accident numbers cannot be justified, there is a slight decline in the numbers recorded this year, unlike last year this time whereby 42 accidents were recorded.

Tuelo advised motorists that the responsibility starts with them, saying unless individuals take it upon themselves to drive responsibly, there is nothing more the police can do, as more lives will continue to be lost due to reckless driving.