A 56-YEAR-old man died after his car veered off the M4 and crashed into the vegetation on the roadside. UMhlanga ward councillor, Heinz de Boer, who witnessed the incident during his morning commute, said he believed the man had suffered a heart attack or passed out, which caused him to lose control of his vehicle.

“I was travelling south-bound and the man was travelling north-bound, and about 400 metres before the La Lucia turn-off, we saw him gradually veer off towards the side of the road. His car clipped a street light pole, which spun his car around in the opposite direction. The car eventually crashed into some bushes,” he said.

De Boer said he and several other motorists rushed the man’s aid and found him slumped over in the passenger seat. He was unresponsive at the time, said De Boer.

“Initially we thought the vehicle was on fire, but luckily the smoke was only from the air bags that had deployed,” he added.

Miraculously, a Netcare 911 ambulance was travelling along the same stretch of road and also witnessed the accident. Paramedics were able to respond within minutes. According to De Boer, paramedics had begun resuscitating the man when he left the scene.

However, despite the quick response and efforts from the paramedics, the man was declared dead at the scene, said Chris Botha, spokesman for Netcare 911.

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