Published: Wednesday, 29th October, 2008 12:30
Pole-axed driver was inches from death
By Jamie MacDonald
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Anton Bruinzeel with a photograph of his damaged car.
Pic by: Jan van der Merwe
A TILLICOULTRY man was just inches from death when a metal pole smashed through his car windscreen in a freak accident.
Anton Bruinzeel was driving along the A907 from Fife approaching the Gartarry Roundabout when an unsecured metal pole from a passing transit pick-up caught on a lorry in front of him before it crashed through his windscreen.
Anton (57) told the Advertiser, “The post actually hit my face but it only touched it before springing away again.
“I could have been killed quite easily – another inch or two and I would be dead.”
As Anton and the lorry in front of him were slowing for the roundabout one of the loose poles on the transit ripped along the length of the sheeting on the lorry’s trailer and, as it came to the end of the lorry – hitting the metal frame of the trailer – it was sent flying into Anton’s car.
He said, “The lorry went up on to the grass verge and the next minute there was the transit van with what looked like a flexible piece of skirting board hanging from it and it was heading towards me.
“That was about all I remember but it turns out it was, in fact, a 10-foot long metal post and not skirting board.
“Luckily no one was travelling at speed.”
Incredibly Anton escaped from the incident with only superficial wounds caused by the shattered windscreen of his Saab 95 – but he knows just how lucky he is to still be alive.
He went on, “According to an engineer who looked at the car afterwards it was the strip of metal of the car door, which runs next to the windscreen, that saved my life. If I had been in a wee car it would have killed me.
“Instead of me talking to you today my daughter would be talking to a funeral director.”
At the moment Anton has a courtesy car as his Saab was written off in the accident, but he has found it extremely difficult to get back behind the wheel.
He continued, “I have only been in the car twice since then to go to Alva to see my daughter but I don’t like driving at the moment.
“Even as a passenger I am telling people to slow down and keep a distance away – I’ve been having nightmares about it too.”
Working for a haulage firm himself, Anton knows of the importance of carrying a safe and secure load so the fact the poles on the pick up came loose angered him.
He said, “I’m annoyed about it. It wasn’t my fault he had an insecure load and I hope he gets punished for it.
“There wasn’t a mark on the pick up afterwards. There were two guys in it – the passenger came up and said he was sorry but the driver never said a word to me.”
A spokesperson for Fife Police confirmed that an accident had occurred on the A907 and two vehicles were damaged as a result adding that no-one had been charged over the incident.
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