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

  • Concern over road safety problems in Europe
    May 2, 2019
    A range of issues are affecting road safety in Europe. A range of issues are affecting road safety in Europe. In France there is concern at the estimate of 68,000 drivers who do not hold a valid license. This represents an increase over previous years and now accounts for around 1.4% of the total number of drivers in the country, according to the data from road safety body, Prevention Routiere. As perhaps is to be expected, the crash statistics for these unlicensed drivers are worrying, with them being
  • New York cabbies
    February 28, 2012
    Meanwhile in New York City, one cabbie has earned praised for his honesty. A passenger accidentally left a bag containing valuables worth US$100,000 in the cab when taking a trip across the city. When the passenger realised his mistake, he assumed he would never see the valuables again
  • Trunk road rage
    November 28, 2012
    In India a cyclist suffered a road rage incident, from an elephant. The incident, which was captured on video, occurred as a cyclist overtook an elephant on a busy urban road. The animal, perhaps upset that its slow speed meant other road users were forced to overtake, sideswiped the cyclist with its trunk as he passed. The cyclist was not seriously hurt in the incident and was later able to resume his journey along the trunk route. The elephant did not stop to apologise for its actions however and nor did
  • Report on cost of US crashes
    March 11, 2016
    A comprehensive analysis of crash statistics in the US reveals the shocking cost of vehicle crashes. The report has been collated by the by the US Department of Transportation, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) and is based on details collated for 2010. The report states that in 2010 there were 32,999 fatalities, 3.9 million injured, and 24 million vehicles damaged following crashes in the US. The economic costs of these crashes totalled US$242 billion. Included in these losses are lost