Rain exacerbates havoc on roads
Collisions in the Berea, Glenwood and Umbilo area have escalated in the past weeks and motorists are urged to drive with extreme caution and patience especially with the heavy rains.
THE greater Berea area has been hard hit by heavy rains adding to the havoc on busy roads.
Garrith Jamieson, operations director of Rescue Care paramedics based in Glenwood said it has been an especially busy four days for the Rescue Care team as they have attended to more than 20 collisions in the Durban and surrounding areas with many patients rushed to hospitals with various injuries.
On Monday just before noon, Rescue Care paramedics were called to a serious collision at the intersection of Commercial Road and Aliwal Street. “Two vehicles had collided in the junction before one vehicle rolled numerous times. Both drivers sustained moderate injuries and were stabilized on the scene before being transported to hospital.
Paramedics were called to Bulwer Road just before McDonald Road on Monday night just after 7pm after a vehicle collided with a tree. The passenger luckily had only sustained moderate injuries and was stabilized before being taken to hospital.
A taxi crash on the N3 Pinetown bound near King Dinizulu (Berea) Road caused major traffic delays last Wednesday and left 16 commuters injured. “The fully laden mini bus taxi had collided with a vehicle before overturning, coming to rest in the fast lane of the Pinetown bound carriageway. Paramedics found that multiple patients had sustained various injuries and more resources were called to assist. A total of 16 people had been injured with six sustaining serious injury,” he said.
“With the heavy rains we have had it made the road surface very wet and Rescue Care has attended to multiple collisions. Fortunately the injuries sustained have been mostly minor however there have been a few which have had serious injuries.
“I would like to urge people to slow down and be cautious in the rain, allow a safe following distance so if someone in front of you suddenly stops then you have ample time to stop without colliding into them. Motorists also need to be patient with each other as people slow down in inclement weather conditions,” he said.
