THE life of a two-year-old girl was spared early yesterday when the driver of a motorcar lost control of the vehicle.Not only did the out-of-control vehicle run into a concrete fence at Lot 11 West Canefield, East Canje, Berbice, but it also destroyed a metal gate in the process, and uprooted one of several posts, before coming to a halt under the two-storey wooden house on the premises.
According to Jacob Ramsammy, mere moments before the incident occurred, he’d told the child, a young relative of his, to go sit in the verandah on the lower flat of the house, as he was going to the garage to take out his vehicle.
No sooner had he reached the garage door, Ramsammy said, that he heard the sound of screeching tyres, and saw out of the corner of his eye a silver-grey Mazda Axela coming from the northern direction, sliding sideways, and catapulting over a six-foot-wide drain, before slamming into his five-foot-high concrete fence, dismantling the structure in the process.
Such was the impact, he said, that a large boulder was dislodged and sent rolling in his direction, forcing him to run for cover.
When the dust finally settled, Ramsammy said he noticed that in the mêlée, the iron gate had been totally destroyed and one of the house posts had been forcibly removed, before the car could come to a rest.
On seeing this, Ramsammy, who lives abroad, said he ran to the vehicle to enquire whether anyone had been injured.
Luckily for the driver, he was the only one in the vehicle, and was able to confirm that he was not injured.
According to Ramsammy, what might have saved him were the air bags, both of which were deployed.
Having made certain that the driver was in good condition, Ramsammy said he called the Reliance Police Station and reported the accident.
On their arrival on the scene of the accident, Ramsammy said he overheard the driver telling the police that he was attempting to avoid a collision with another car which was exiting a nearby gas station, when he lost control of his.
This newspaper would subsequently learn, however, that at the time of the accident, the owner of the vehicle had minutes earlier appeared at the Reliance Magistrates Court to answer a charge of driving under the influence of alcohol.
He had sent the driver of PTT 7814 to uplift money to post bail, when the accident occurred.
Investigations are underway.