Priit Sauk, director general of the Transport Authority (Transpordiamet), told ETV morning show Terevisioon that while the situation was still under investigation: “In my opinion it is not correct to say that the car slipped into the culvert as a result of the slippery road conditions. “Generally, it is the actions or inaction of the driver that causes the car to end up in the culvert,” he added.
Sauk added that he had received more information about the accident on Wednesday night, that the driver of the car involved in the fatal accident was not Estonian, that the faulty vehicle had been sent back several times for technical inspections, that its driving performance was questionable, and that the car The tires are over 10 years old and not suitable for winter driving.
“Basically, they’re driving on slippery plastic,” he added.
The accident was one of several on Sunday morning on the same Järva County section of the Tallinn-Tartu motorway, with the fatality involving a collision between a Volkswagen Passat and an Opel Vectra – the latter losing control and swerving The vehicle swerved into the path of the Passat — and killed a 28-year-old woman who was a passenger in the Opel.
Five others – the Opel driver and the Passat’s four passengers, all in their 60s – were hospitalized in the accident.
Original Järva teataja composition (in Estonian) here.
Those at the scene of Sunday’s crash said the highway was particularly slippery at the time, although an earlier inspection by the Transit Authority found nothing unusual.
Sunday’s fatal crash took place near the village of Imavere, an accident blackspot.
Järva teataja is part of the Postimees group.
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