Tow truck driver saves motorist from near-fatal crash
A tow truck driver and a motorist narrowly escaped a crash near Peter Brown Drive in Pietermaritzburg on Monday.
In the 17-second video clip, the woman motorist had her hands on her knees near the front of the vehicle while the tow truck driver appeared to ward off vehicles.
After a few seconds, the tow truck driver, who kept his eyes on the road, approached the woman. In no time, he saw a vehicle crashing towards them and appeared to alert the woman. They fled before the vehicle crashed into the back of the woman’s vehicle.
The video has been shared on social media.
Mr Towing and Recovery tow truck driver Sarvesh Ramkrishen said they were travelling to Hilton from Pietermaritzburg and saw the first accident happen where the woman spun out and lost control of her vehicle.
“We came down to assist the lady. The lady was standing in the way so we wanted to get her out of the way before we could recover the vehicle,” Ramkrishen said.
“Her life was more important than the vehicle.
“Money is not all that for us. People’s safety matters to us. So we had to try and get her out of the way before we could do anything.”
Ramkrishen said that before the secondary crash, he jumped out of the tow truck to tell the motorist to get into the tow truck because it was not safe where she was standing.
“She told me she couldn’t walk. So I tried to grab onto her hand and pull her into our vehicle but it was too late. That Polo just came out of nowhere and spun out,” he described.
He said three different accidents occurred nearby. The first was a Hyundai and then the Polo which spun out and crashed into the Hyundai. The other accident was later.
Mr Towing and Recovery is no stranger to road accidents. Owner Mark Ramnarayan said they have saved many people.
His late brother, Kavish, a tow truck driver, was killed in a road crash near Liberty Midlands Mall on September 1, 2023. Kavish saved a child from a burning taxi where 16 people died in Town Hill, Pietermaritzburg. He also saved a man whose vehicle was washed away in a river, also in Pietermaritzburg.
Also on Monday morning, motorists were urged to be vigilant when travelling on the N3 southbound towards Pietermaritzburg at Peter Brown Drive as a crash was not visible from the bend.
Mi7 National Group said: “It is believed the driver of a vehicle lost control, causing it to overturn. The driver was ejected from the vehicle and flung across the highway from the southbound carriageway onto the north. There, he was struck by a passing vehicle. Mi7 medics assessed the driver, but he showed no signs of life and was pronounced dead on the scene. Another patient in the vehicle was stabilised and taken to hospital for further treatment.”
Afterwards, two secondary crashes occurred.
“First, a bakkie crashed into a tow truck parked ahead of the initial accident site to divert traffic away. Two occupants from the bakkie were left with minor injuries. The tow truck operators were not in the vehicle when the crash occurred,” Mi7 said.
“Then, an RTI vehicle, which was also used to divert traffic away, was also rammed into further up. The officer was luckily not in the vehicle. No injuries were reported in this case.”
Attempts to establish whether all the crashes were linked or happened around the same time or area were unsuccessful.
thobeka.ngema@inl.co.za