A Bombay Road pedestrian, who has spent two weeks in hospital with serious injuries, said he is frustrated by police inaction and the lack of accountability for the taxi driver who allegedly knocked him down while overtaking another vehicle. Prenesh Rampersadh (44) has been confined to a bed at Northdale Hospital since being struck by a taxi on Tuesday, January 13, suffering a fractured femur and extensive bruising that has left him unable to walk or work. Despite the severity of the injuries, the driver involved has only opened an accident report at Mountain Rise police station.
A member of the South African Police Service (SAPS) confirmed that a case of reckless and negligent driving should have been opened, but said this had not yet happened. Rampersadh said his life changed “in seconds” when the taxi allegedly attempted to overtake another vehicle and struck him head-on at around 4pm. “I am the sole provider for my four children — two teenagers, a nine-year-old and a three-year-old — and my wife.
Now I am stuck here, unable to move or walk because I can’t use my left leg,” he said. A contractor with no fixed income, Rampersadh said he regularly walked to and from jobs in the Raisethorpe CBD, a routine that now fills him with anxiety. I looked left and right before crossing and the road was clear.
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As I was walking, I heard a taxi screeching as it tried to overtake another vehicle. “When I turned, it was right in front of my face. It knocked me and flung me across the road,” he said.
Rampersadh said he lay injured on the hot tar, unable to move, until emergency services arrived. He believes there were several witnesses to the collision, but said he was in too much pain and shock to recall what police at the scene told him. His wife, Urisha Pillay, said officers informed her that she and her husband would need to go to the police station to open a case, as they had not witnessed the incident themselves and could not immediately arrest the driver.
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