Toyota written off after he was rear-ended by a police bakkie, now he sits without wheels.
|||Cape Town - The wheels of justice may turn slowly, but they don't turn at all when you're up against the police. This according to a Fish Hoek motorist who claims authorities have swept his case under the carpet after a police bakkie ploughed into the back of his Toyota Tazz.
“They told me I wouldn’t get a cent,” said Bruce Schnugh, “and it seems they are sticking to that.”
Schnugh, his fiancée, Tanya Perry, and two-year-old son, Ethan, were travelling along Kalk Bay’s Main Road on October 29.
It was about 6.35am, and there were only a few cars on the road.
“Just before the Dalebrook car park (opposite the church) I had to come to a stop because there were a couple of cars turning into the car park,” said Schnugh. He noticed the front end of a police bakkie looming in his rear view mirror.
“I had just about enough time to brace my son against the impact before they hit us.”
The force of the blow sent the hatchback careering forward, smashing into one of the queuing cars in front of it. It then bounced back, mounting the pavement before coming to a stop.
The impact had caused the car to crumple so badly that the doors no longer opened, said Schnugh.
“I started kicking at them to get out because I was worried my son had been injured… I looked over to see that the police had stopped, got out and were just kicking broken glass off the road.”
It has been more than three months since the crash, but despite filing an accident report with the Muizenberg police station there has been no progress.
In that time Schnugh was forced to sell his car.
His Tazz was not insured and the the repair bill for the rear bumper alone came close to R30 000, almost eclipsing the value of the car.
Combined with the towing costs and medical bills that followed the crash, the 30-year-old claimed the crash had cost him more than R50 000.
“All I want is what I lost. I want a proper car again, something I can use to drive my family around, but I’m still sitting here with absolutely nothing because a pair of cops weren’t looking where they were going.”
Police were asked for comment but indicated on Tuesday that they would release a full statement about the matter on Wednesday.
Cape Argus