An unidentified 20-year-old male recently sustained serious injuries after he was hit by a car on the corner of Merriman and Andringa Street in Stellenbosch.
This is according to Capt Nathalie Martin, spokesperson for the Stellenbosch South African Police Service (SAPS).
The accident took place on 8 May at 01:40, said Martin.
An accident which left a 20-year-old male with serious injuries took place on the corner of Merriman and Andringa Street, according to Capt Nathalie Martin, spokesperson for the Stellenbosch South African Police Service. PHOTO: William Brederode
CCTV footage
The accident was caught on closed-circuit television (CCTV) footage from the BP Merriman garage, according to Jamie Amner, the operations manager at Merriman BP.
“You see a vehicle drive past, and then you see a body moving across the road, travelling for about 8 m and coming to a stand on the opposite side of the road right in front of two tow truck drivers. The vehicle then drives off down the road,” said Amner.
The footage shows several people gathered around the struck pedestrian, Amner said. The driver of the car was not identifiable and the car involved in the accident was not in the view of the CCTV camera, according to Amner. This meant that it was not clear whether one of the people around the injured pedestrian was the driver of the car in the accident, he stated.
“It took the emergency services about eight minutes to get here. Two ambulances arrived,” Amner added.
The 20-year-old male was then taken to a nearby hospital, according to Martin.
MatieMedia was not able to verify which hospital at the time of publication.
The contact details of some medical and security services in Stellenbosch are pictured above. GRAPHIC: Cody Hansen
The accident occurred near the Catwalk nightclub in Stellenbosch. The pedestrian who was struck was not at the nightclub at any point on the evening of the accident, according to a member of the management team at Catwalk who wished to remain anonymous.
Pedestrian safety
There are a variety of factors which affect pedestrian safety, including alcohol consumption, wearing dark clothes at night, speeding vehicles and wet weather conditions, said Adv Johan Jonck, the developer of Arrive Alive, a website that raises awareness of road safety.
The video above is a compilation of 10 road safety tips for pedestrians to follow, according to Arrive Alive, a website that raises awareness of road safety. VIDEO: Supplied/Johan Jonck
“On the driver’s side, we need to emphasise slowing down in areas of pedestrian activity, especially when it’s at night,” said Jonck.
MatieMedia reached out to SAPS to request access to the CCTV footage but, because this accident is an ongoing investigation, were denied access.