Learner hit by taxi at dangerous intersection
The learner (17) sustained several injuries. It was the second accident that happened to him near his school.
A 17-year-old learner was hit by a taxi on his way to school on Tuesday, September 5.
Dean Venter of Hoërskool Zwartkop was riding his motorbike around 07:15 when a taxi driving down the wrong side of the road hit him.
He sustained several wounds and bruises all over his body but none was serious.
His father, Dewald said he was at work when his son called him a few minutes after the accident.
“He was looking for his phone, and he took a picture of the taxi’s number plate.”
Dewald said he arrived at the scene within a few minutes.
Venter explained that traffic on Valley Road is usually backed up in the morning with long lines of motorists waiting to join the R101 Old Johannesburg road.
Security cameras overlooking the road recorded the moments before the accident, showing a taxi using the wrong side of the road to bypass traffic.
“As he got to the Old Johannesburg road, my son came around the corner towards the school and they met each other.”
Other motorists immediately enclosed the taxi. Dewald said they went to open a case at the police station but the taxi driver only left with a R500 fine.
“If I didn’t open a case, then nothing would have happened. So I decided to charge him criminally for reckless driving.”
Dewald said that this was not the first time that his son had been involved in an accident at a dangerous intersection.
About a month and a half ago, at the very same stop, a guy on an Uber motorcycle came from the back and bumped his son off his bike.
Parents at Hoërskool Zwartkop are concerned about the safety of their children, as the intersection has become notoriously dangerous.
Not too long ago, on the other corner on the Old Johannesburg road, a boy was very seriously injured when he was knocked off his bicycle.
Venter said that parents at the school have been dealing with the dangerous intersection for many years, mentioning several previous cases.
In March 2021, a learner was hit by a vehicle while crossing the road in front of the school. The learner sustained injuries to his arms and legs.
In September 2021, a 14-year-old learner was struck by a taxi at the intersection of the R101 Old Johannesburg Road and Mopani Road.
He spent three days in the ICU with bleeding on the brain and a fractured skull.
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