BRACKENHURST – On Thursday January 9 at about 05:00, Eduan Eybers left his home only to hit a fallen tree, head on in Holzgen Street, Brackenhurst.
The tree was lying perpendicular across the entire width of the road and with it still being dark, Eduan noticed the tree too late, resulting in the tree hitting the bonnet of his car so hard that it forced the bonnet through the windscreen.
“The bonnet ended up 20cm away from my face, which I am sure could have resulted in a very serious injury.
“At this stage we are still waiting for the insurance company to report the damage, but by the looks of it, the car is most likely going to be a write-off,” said Eduan.
Furious and shocked at what happened; Eduan explained there have been many other incidents, especially in that street, of trees being reported to be in a poor condition.
The home owner, of where the tree was, told Eduan that she had been trying for almost four years for the municipality to remove the dead tree as it is municipal property.
“We are highly upset. What if the bonnet had gone further into the windshield? What if my wife was in the car with me? What could have happened is extremely upsetting because the municipality could have prevented this entire situation.
“I will try my best to claim from the municipality for all the financial and emotional damage which was caused, however, it is my intention to make our neighbourhood aware of these common incidents. I wouldn’t want anyone else to have to experience what my family and I faced that day.
“I want people to be aware of potential falling trees.This tree which caused my accident, is a Blackwood tree. It doesn’t have deep roots and they spread just underneath the surface. How can the municipality allow these trees to grow next to roads?”
Eduan also told the RECORD about a previous incident which happened last year. “A woman was driving and thankfully the tree fell literally just behind her car.”
Councillor Izak Berg responded, “Mr Eybers will have to put a claim through to his insurance company. The insurance will ask for a co-payment of which Mr Eybers will request that the insurance company put through a claim from council for the damages of his car which was not his fault.
“In the meantime the insurance company has to go ahead with fixing the damages and can claim from council for the co-payment.”
