Cruise Accident

[johnn]

thats good news to hear about drew.......... pity was on his first skyline cruise.....

is any one organising to see him in hosiptal........ i am keen to see how he is doing and my heart goes out to troy's family at this great time of tragedy....

prayers and thoughts to all those involved..... well done to the guys at the scene for all the effort they put in... pats on the back all round

I believe Nightcrawler is finding out details about where Drew is, he will let us know soon. we can then organise to go see him in hospital!

also to clarify, the guy driving the festivas name was Tony.

RIP Tony.

[Nightcrawler]

well it was a horrible situation, but you just do what you can. Thank goodness the 2 SES blokes were there to run the show. I went over to the green Festiva to try help them, but the trapped driver was a mess, and the passenger was absolutely freaking out. I just kept talking to her and trying to calm her down. She knew the condition of the driver and was hurt pretty bad herself. It is horrible feeling helpless in that situation. I have many horrible images of today burned in my head ....

Sorry if it seemed we ran out on the guys that were left, but they wanted the car out of the way, the emergeny services/cops had arrived, there was nothing else we could do, and I had a family birthday dinner at 6pm down North Haven, so had to get going.

[johnn]

There really wasnt anything we could have done, once the police and emergany services arrived they told most people to leave that didnt call for help/didnt see anything...so you were right to go.

[MY33]

yeah i ws the last one there into the night fall.

cos i was in the car right behind em

[johnn]

yeah i ws the last one there into the night fall.

cos i was in the car right behind em

did you have a statment taken?

[MY33]

Yeah,

Crash team investigation are coming to get a fully detailed statement off me in the next few days.

I also gave the advertiser a statement as well so everyone buy that tomorrow.

Something came up about court and one of the cops said there wont be a court case because the affender has died.

RIP

[Race__24]

What to say, I'm gobb-smacked

Condolences to Troys family.

I hope Drew and the passenger from the festiva have a speedy recovery.

Aaron

[SLY-031]

i heard the terrible news from shane (puresx).

condolences to the families and hope Drew recovers quickly.

[R33fourdoor]

Good grief, I only just heard about this a short while ago and was absolutely shocked. Having spotted a brief clip on the TV and read the personal accounts of what happened on this thread (particularly Steve's near miss) my sympathy and prayers go out to all of those involved in this horrific accident.

Although these accidents seem to happen with uncanny regularity across the country, it never hits home harder than when it is someone from your own community.

My heart goes out to the deceased, his family and his friends at their tragic loss.

Even though I've never met most of you in person, I would like to wish Drew a speedy recovery. These are circumstances that no one should be expected to deal with and to all of those that helped at the scene in whatever way they could should be congratulated for their efforts.

<RANT ON>

I hope that somewhere, someone influential is following threads such as this one so that they can take a cold hard look at the facts. The solution to reducing the road toll is SO much more complicated than simply targeting speed and alcohol.

At this early stage, it doesn't appear that either has been key contributor toward this horrific outcome. However the powers that be continue to pressure the public into thinking that their strategy of targeting speeders in some of the most insanely inappropriate and ineffectual locations is miraculously solving the problem…..it’s obviously not! Speed kills…true! Drink driving kills….true!

However it is the responsibility of the authorities to comb through these statistics to figure out what kills in accidents like we’ve seen today, because I’d bet that MOST of the deaths on Australian roads today, occur just like this. Tragic…..most definitely, but could it have been avoided….surely the answer would be yes other than in the event of some medical misfortune or deathwish.

Could it be better driver education, more comprehensive driver assessment, defensive driver training or simply re-testing the basic road rules when your license or registration is renewed? What about the condition of the roads, the sign posting or the road markings? Surely there must be something which could have helped avert the consequences of someone’s action (or inaction) on this sad day.

Maybe the proceeds earned from the Police’s blatant ‘money raising’ exercises need to be set aside to discover and implement some REAL solutions to this modern pandemic, not to just fatten the government coffers.

<RANT OFF>

Apologies for the rant. I don't profess to being any kind of road safety expert, but I can't help thinking that this didn't need to happen, so how do we prevent this or protect ourselves from the same fate in the future?

[vange]

i msged duc (yellow 34) this afternoon to see how the crusie was..only for him 2 call me later on with the bad news. Condolences to the family of the driver and wish a speedy recovery for drew and the passenger.

[Madaz]

good rant R33fourdoor points made were very valid

im off work @ 3:30pm any1 can right me and we can go visit Drew

0421 932750

[4door_Sleeper]

My best wishes go to Drew on a speedy recovery, if their is anything i/we can do please let us know.

[johnn]

From The Advertiser:

"A TRAGIC crash on a counrty road has claimed another young life and left three people in hospital. A man, 18 died in a three car crash on Adelaide Rd, 5km out of strathalbyn, just after 3.30pm yesterday. He was the driver of a green ford Festiva traveling towards Strathalbyn when police believe he overtook a red ford festiva. He collided head on with a Nissan Skyline heading south towards Mt Barker. His car spun out of control into the path of the red ford festive. The male driver, 20, of the Skyline was airlifted to Flinders Medical Center with the teenage female passenger of the green festive. The female driver was taken to Strathalby Hospital before being transfered to Flinders. Four Nissan Skylines were travelling at the time of the accident. The first swerved to aviod the green ford. The second collided with it head on. The drivers of the other Skylines avoided the accident. Shaun Van Hofft, 19, was the driver of the third nissan. "it was the scariest thing i have seen", he said. "There were two cars flying through the air and we just wenbt through the middle. It was like something from a movie". Major Crash last night were investigating events leading up to the accident. The death brings SA's road toll to 50, compared to 64 at the same time last year"

also the picture (if you havent seen it) is of the heli and ambulance with Drew and Jasmin being loaded into the heli.

Steve, ill give you a call at 3:30 ish, I'll call Flinders and find out if Drew can see visiters.

[HR-32]

Just seeing this for the first time, what can I say I'm shocked!

As said before speedy recovery to all those injured.

My thoughts are with those in need at this tragic time.

RIP Tony.

[Drift Spec]

hey,

Yeah i saw drew get taken away, he got put on a stetcher and put into the helicopter.

The whole roof of the r33 had to be cut off to get him out. his head was a little messed up, lots of broozing around his eyes and he had a blood nose and a pretty badly cut lip. i am pretty sure he didnt have any broken legs or ny thing. i was looking after him before the amobo's came and all he wanted to do is make more room so he could move around. he had full movment of both his legs. and when i asked him where he had pain he said only his head.

he was able to talk to me fine when he came in and out of consioness.

a true hero.

Wow this is fantastic to hear!, I hope Drew has a speedy and full recovery. Condulances also must go out to the driver of the festiva and lets hope the passenger makes a full recovery also. Sorry I forgot to say that in my previous post I was sort of in shock at the time.

Considering the speed of the impact it is a testement to the Nissan engineering that is for sure.

[Drift Spec]

well it was a horrible situation, but you just do what you can. Thank goodness the 2 SES blokes were there to run the show. I went over to the green Festiva to try help them, but the trapped driver was a mess, and the passenger was absolutely freaking out. I just kept talking to her and trying to calm her down. She knew the condition of the driver and was hurt pretty bad herself. It is horrible feeling helpless in that situation. I have many horrible images of today burned in my head ....

Sorry if it seemed we ran out on the guys that were left, but they wanted the car out of the way, the emergeny services/cops had arrived, there was nothing else we could do, and I had a family birthday dinner at 6pm down North Haven, so had to get going.

Andrew and everyone one who saw the accident, make sure you voice any feelings you have to people you trust, don't let it build up inside. What you saw will probably not have hit home yet. Remember we are all here if you need to chat about it.

[EMZ R33]

Im sorry to hear about the accident and the fatalities involved, i just hope all invlved are dealing with this situation the best way they can and their families and friends are supporting them too. It sounds like everyone here is willing to help and show genuine passion for the people involved. I know it may have been said before, but if anyone wants to share what ward Drew is in (if he is still in hospital). Previous posts suggest The RAH and others say FMC, which on e is it. I work at the RAH as a Registered NUrse and thus, would be easy to pop in to say hi if he is still.

Well all the best guys and once again its great to hear some truelly caring people on a posting.

Hope to see you on the streets of Adelaide again Drew, get well soon.

Kin degards Evan

[Oosh]

Saw the report on the news last night, SMS'd Andrew, and was shocked to hear my fears confirmed that it involved the cruise.

My condolences to friends and family of the deceased, and i wish the female passenger and Drew a speedy recovery, poor bloke.

I too am also curious as to if he's at the RAH as my girfriend, and several other people i know, works as nurses there incl. one in ICU (Intensive Care) where he probably is.

[johnn]

Saw the report on the news last night, SMS'd Andrew, and was shocked to hear my fears confirmed that it involved the cruise.

My condolences to friends and family of the deceased, and i wish the female passenger and Drew a speedy recovery, poor bloke.

I too am also curious as to if he's at the RAH as my girfriend, and several other people i know, works as nurses there incl. one in ICU (Intensive Care) where he probably is.

Well The Advertiser has them being airlifted to Flinders, but then again he may have been moved...

[Iceduck312]

OK. Sorry I only had time to check the forums now, but was shocked but also inspired to see the concern and support from the skyline community for fellow member Drew and those involved.

Now bear with me..this is gonna be a pretty long rant and rave but I feel it is necessary to help us all think about what happened..and how lucky some of us had been.

My view how it happened:

It was medium paced cruise up to the meet point in strathalbyn, of which we all enjoyed up to that point. Then the leg home seemed a straight forward affair with a trip through to mount barker then a freeway home. As we were pulling off the curb, a police paddy wagon pulled out of a side street which seperated half the guys. So we all paused for 15 secs to allow him to pass and turn right at the round about. We all proceeded to turn left and on the way home. Now everything leading up to the crash is pretty fuzzy in my mind and let me know if I miss things here ok guys.. But I'll fast forward to the important section.---> I was travelling behind busky and could see that road was to split into an overtaking lane. You could see all the way up the hill and vice versa, it had started spitting down, so we all knew not to push it hard when overtaking. The next thing I know I see Drews skyline brakes light up and then the crash with festiva and his car spinning.

I immediately stopped and just bolted towards the cars.In fact, not thinking of our own safety all of us did.

One of the SES guys on the cruise took control of the situation and called out for us to stay away from the vehicles. He then said " I need one person to call the ambulance, one person to call the police and one person to call the fire brigade." He then tended to the injured.

I called 000, and then they directed me to the right STATE, then talked to me through.. the guy on the phone asked me where I was.. ( I didn't know exactly ) and which road I was on and which direction. Then he asked how many cars and how many persons trapped or injured. I said what I could but in the end handed the phone over to the SES guy. He knew the drill so well.. and got the vital info to the operator.

The other SES guy was tending to the victims too.

I clearly remember one of the guys asking for a plastic bag then seeing a guy take off his jumper and shirt to give them to stop the bleeding I think. After the initial confusion and shock of the first 5 minutes they assessed the safety of the site and proceeded to direct the traffic.

There was nothing more we could do but wait for help.....

A few thoughts and reflection:

Now looking back, I feel that it was a matter of divine intervention for some of us and not for others. IF that police wagon hadn't delayed our departure momentarily, I could only assume that it would have been either busky or myself involved instead. Busky was saying to me how he was about to overtake Night Crawler when the accident occured, and I would have surely followed.

I had my girlfriend and her little brother as well as Nozilla in my car, so I too thank god for not being involved. But in saying so I do not wish it to happend to anyone else either. We wanted to stay but were told to go, but in all fairness, there was not much we could do but pray that all involved were ok. The car ride home was eerily quiet, with us all trying to digest what had happened.

Unless you were there you probably wont comprehend the magnitude of the situation let alone the importance of having leaders with knowledge and skill. Without a doubt in my mind, the 2 SES guys that came on the cruise made a hell of a difference and I'd say they are welcome to any cruise I come on.

In the Today's paper, the news only made it to page 8. To me it seems more like a brief mention and had less coverage than the divorce of Greg Norman. It also mentions that 4 nissan skylines were travelling north at the time. To me this only highlighted to the public the bad press that imports already have at the moment.

The report on the news was also similar with images of the skyline shown and it briefly mentioning that it was a head on collision. Maybe it's just me, but it seems like imports aren't liked in the media.

I wish none of it had happened, but it did. To Drew, I hope u recover quick mate.

Edited May 22, 2006 by Iceduck312