The Zambezi acting regional police commander, Nehemia Josef, has confirmed that they have opened A case of culpable homicide, and alternatively reckless and or negligent driving in the case in which a 22-year old driver lost control of a Toyota land Cruiser, instantly killing five of the seven occupants close to Kongola in the morning hours of today (Wednesday).
The vehicle, which burst its left rear tyre before overturning and rolling several times, is one of the most powerful engines on the Namibian roads, according to road safety expert and crime fighting Sheriff Sean Naude of the Namibia Marshal Rangers.
According to Toyota South Africa, this is one of the most hardcore vehicles around.
In the case of the Transcaprivi accident, the driver was handling a Toyota land Cruiser V8.
A sudden burst of a tyre/tyres may catch one by surprise especially leading to a fatal accident, but the situation can be put under control if the driver acts vigilantly, he said.
So, how’s that done?
“It was a situation of uncontrolled behavior in the sense of, they did not control the situation properly and we have had tyre bursts a lot of time. Sometimes you can handle it, sometimes you can’t, but even the worst of tyre breaks, you can if you apply breaks slowly and not slam on the breaks and not make any sudden drastic movements on the steering, you can survive and get through a tyre burst,” he said.
“But with a powerful machine like that, it is very hard. You know a lot of people think they can handle speed and power, but that is one of your most powerful vehicles on the road at the moment. If you do not know what you are doing behind the wheel, and you’re a young person, you’re going to panic and you are going to do the wrong things. And this is what happened,” he said.