Aussies are pleading for a driver to be banned from getting behind the wheel of a car ever again after he collided with an oversize load at roughly 70km/h.
The driver slammed into the wide load, which was being escorted by police, as it was travelling on an unidentified road in the opposite direction, the Mackay Road Accident Action Group (RAAG) posted on Facebook on Wednesday.
Startling pictures show the driver’s side of what appears to be a white ute shredded and caved in, with debris hanging just centimetres away from the seat’s headrest. The windscreen is also shattered, and a huge gaping hole can be seen right in front of where the driver was sitting.
“How is this for a close call,” the group, which works to reduce incidents of road trauma, captioned the shocking images, which include shots of the oversize load. “The driver of the vehicle states they did not see the police escort/pilot of the oversize load and only noticed the oversize load itself at the last moment before impact.
“The driver stated that he ‘ducked’ away from the driver’s side in the cab of the vehicle immediately prior to the collision.”
The man was the only person in the car at the time and miraculously sustained no physical injuries. “Next time they might not be so lucky,” RAAG Mackay warned, adding the incident “highlights how important it is to be aware of wide loads and their escort vehicles”.
“Please remember wide loads like this are prevalent on our roads and can take up the entire road width. Pay attention to pilot/police escorts and follow their directions,” the group continued. “Stay safe out there everyone.”
‘Should have gone to Specsavers’
The Facebook post — which has attracted a lot of attention online — had hundreds of Aussie drivers fuming. Several people called for the driver’s licence to be “taken off them”, while others questioned how he didn’t see the large piece of bright orange machinery or police lights.
“What part of the huge red load and semi did you not see?” one person said. “Wow, he didn’t see the pilot or the police, or the wide load taking up most of his lane? Take away his licence, I don’t want to share the road with him!!!” another wrote.
“Sounds like the driver shouldn’t be on the road at all. Blind Freddy would have seen it,” someone else added. Several people speculated the driver had been using his phone at the time. “Should have gone to Specsavers,” others joked.
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