Collision: Police to blame

The flow of traffic on Hendrik Potgieter Road was hugely affected on the morning of Tuesday 21 January owing to an accident involving a Metro police vehicle. The collision occurred on the corner of Fredenharry Road.

According to eye-witness Wayne Wright, a Metro police vehicle was travelling from west to east on Hendrik Potgieter Road at approximately 7am. Traffic lights were green for vehicles travelling from Krugerrand and Fredenharry roads. “Though [the police] had their siren which was fairly low, they drove over the red traffic light, flying, and crashed into the Chevrolet bakkie which was crossing from Krugerrand Road into Fredenharry Road.”

Within minutes roads become severely congested, and caused delays of up to 25 minutes.

Wright is disappointment with the police’s conduct in response to the collision. “None of them bothered to check if the driver of the other vehicle was OK.” He also said that the possibility of their responding to an accident does not justify their driving through a red traffic light at high speed. “I’ve worked at the fire department. We always made sure that we never drove over a red traffic light at high speed, even if we were responding to an emergency. You always check if it is safe to do so.”

When the Northsider arrived at the scene, all involved in the accident had been taken to hospital. It is not clear how many occupants were in each vehicle and whether any sustained serious injuries.