Skip to main content

Elephant impact

British holidaymarkers were lucky to avoid being killed when an elephant unexpectedly attacked their car. The pair were visiting the Kruger National Park in South Africa when their VW Polo car was first rammed and then flipped onto its roof by the enraged male elephant. One of the elephant’s tusks pierced the door of the car, seriously injuring the woman passenger and she was taken to hospital after the attack. She recovered from the injury however and was later able to leave after treatment.
March 27, 2014 Read time: 2 mins
British holidaymarkers were lucky to avoid being killed when an elephant unexpectedly attacked their car. The pair were visiting the Kruger National Park in South Africa when their VW Polo car was first rammed and then flipped onto its roof by the enraged male elephant. One of the elephant’s tusks pierced the door of the car, seriously injuring the woman passenger and she was taken to hospital after the attack. She recovered from the injury however and was later able to leave after treatment. The elephant was later shot and killed by rangers as it was thought to present a possible danger to other park visitors. Elephant attacks on cars are comparatively rare in South Africa’s game parks but although vehicles are designed to protect occupants in the event of a crash, they are not designed to deflect elephant tusks.

Related Content

  • UK traffic offence convictions increase
    May 10, 2018
    Official UK Government figures reveal that convictions for traffic offences in England and Wales have been steadily increasing since 2013. Of concern is that there has been a 52% increase in convictions for dangerous driving in that period. There were guilty verdicts for 1.2 million traffic offences in 2006, according to an analysis of the data by IAM RoadSmart. The number of guilty verdicts for traffic offences then declined for seven years until 2014 when the total number of offences started rising again
  • Mirror, signal, manoeuvre
    August 24, 2015
    A German driver has had a rather abrupt reminder as to why it is necessary to look properly before pulling out at a junction. The driver, a young woman, drove her small VW from a side road and straight into the path of an oncoming British Army tank, which was on its way to military manoeuvres. Luckily for the woman, the tank driver was rather more attentive and he managed to halt his heavy-armoured vehicle before it completely crushed the car. Fortunately the VW’s driver was unhurt in the incident, although
  • Record driving ban?
    February 23, 2012
    An Australian woman had her driving disqualification extended by one year after being convicted for crashing her Honda in a car park while driving without a licence. The pensioner has appeared in court more than 70 times on a variety of charges in recent years but claims that she is a good driver. The court heard that she continued to drive despite having her licence revoked until 2999 for medical reasons. The woman was convicted of negligent driving, driving without a licence and failing to give particular
  • Road safety improvements and challenges worldwide
    May 24, 2012
    Road safety is again hitting the headlines worldwide, with new data showing accident reductions being achieved as well as highlighting areas for improvement. Several European nations showed major safety improvements. In Spain, the Home Affairs Office has published encouraging information revealing that the number of fatalities from car accidents fell in 13 out of the country's 17 autonomous regions during 2010. La Rioja region reported a drop of 47%, the best improvement in Spain, while the regions of Astur