Woman lost control of car – lands in small strip mall

At 12:19 in the afternoon on Saturday, 25 February, Netcare 911 responded to a collision on Umhlanga Rocks Drive in Durban North when a woman lost control of her car.

Elderly woman lost control of car

According to reports, an elderly female driver lost control while attempting to park, inadvertently pressing the accelerator.

The vehicle then mounted the pavement, passed through a passage, and came to rest on a stairway.

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Driver sustains minor injuries

When medics arrived on the scene, they discovered that both the driver and her elderly passenger had fortunately sustained only minor injuries.

Upon closer examination of the car, it was discovered that a metal railing had penetrated through the lower portion of the windscreen, narrowly missing the driver.

The car’s occupants, as well as a member of the public who was in the passage at the time of the incident, were evaluated.

Nevertheless, they refused ambulance transportation to the hospital.

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WHAT TO DO AT AN ACCIDENT SCENE

With many accidents occurring on our roads, you might find yourself on the scene of one.

Here is what you can do:

• The safety of accident victims, emergency personnel, and other road users is the most important goal when an accident occurs.
• The first hour following an accident is known as the “Golden Hour,” and doctors say seriously injured car crash victims must receive comprehensive medical care within 60 minutes to have a good chance of survival. This scenario gives rescuers about 12 minutes at the accident scene to extricate the injured and get them to the hospital.
• Consider the traffic flow at the scene. Is it a risk to you or others, including the casualty?
• Consider the impact on emergency vehicles trying to reach the scene before stopping traffic.

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• If anyone is available, send someone up and down the road to wave down traffic.
• Turn on hazard lights and ignite flares if the incident happened at night to warn oncoming motorists of the danger.
• Consider the positioning of any vehicles involved in the incident and the potential hazards they may pose (such as rolling forwards or backwards). Consider safety – constantly reassess the safety of the scene, especially if you rely on others to keep you safe.
• Turn off all of the vehicles involved in the collision.

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