Eyes on the road

A US driver has lodged a contender for the world's most feeble excuse for an accident following an incident near to his home in Oklahoma. The 68-year-old was on his way home from church when he drove his pick-up truck into a 2tonne elephant, and then claimed that he had not initially seen it.
February 22, 2012 Read time: 1 min
A US driver has lodged a contender for the world's most feeble excuse for an accident following an incident near to his home in Oklahoma. The 68-year-old was on his way home from church when he drove his pick-up truck into a 2tonne elephant, and then claimed that he had not initially seen it. The 2.44m high elephant had escaped from a nearby circus and suffered a broken tusk and an injured leg in the incident, although the accident could have been much worse had the driver not seen the fugitive animal at the last moment and swerved to avoid a head-on impact. The animal was attended to by a vet but was not seriously hurt. The driver's ego has been somewhat dented however.

Related Content

  • €14.47bn to fix England and Wales local road network, ALARM Survey claims
    April 3, 2014
    The 19th Annual Local Authority Road Maintenance (ALARM) Survey published today reports that the estimated cost to get England and Wales’ local road network back into reasonable condition has increased to €14.47 billion (£12 billion) from €12.06 billion (£10.5 billion) in 2013. For the second year in a row, more than two million potholes (2,010,749) were filled in England and Wales over the course of the previous year.
    Read More
  • UK death rate not falling fast enough in The Reported Road Casualties Great Britain Report 2013
    September 26, 2014
    Road safety lobby groups have criticised Britain for pushing down its annual road fatality rate by a further 2% in the past year, the lowest figure since records began in 1926. The Reported Road Casualties Great Britain 2013 (RRCGB) Annual Report, published in September 2014, reveals that 1,713 people were killed in road accidents in the country during 2013, with the number of people seriously injured down by 6% to 21,657 versus 2012.
    Read More
  • A history lesson in private public partnerships
    April 12, 2012
    Michel Démarre gives some historical insights into public-private partnerships conceived to implement urban infrastructure projects, a concept that surprisingly dates back to as early as the 13th century! All over the world today, the role of public authorities in the process of planning and, in most cases, designing, financing and procuring urban roads is paramount. Even for modifications to existing roads, decisions are made by these public authorities (usually after due consultation with the population)
    Read More
  • Kenya moves ahead with double-decker road to address costly city traffic jams
    December 11, 2013
    New double deck roads could cut congestion in Kenyan capital Nairobi – Shem Oirere reports Arapid increase in urban population and diminishing land for infrastructure expansion has forced Kenya to devise ways of addressing the worsening human and vehicular traffic problems in its capital Nairobi. The country national highways agency recently announced progress in the planned construction of the country’s first double-decker highway.
    Read More

Highlighted Content