A 50-year-old taxi driver paid a heavy price for displaying good citizenship on Route 5 Saturday. The cabbie attempted to aid another driver, a 76-year-old who was driving in the opposite direction and crashed into another vehicle, when he was by another car.
The 76-year-old sustained light injuries, as did the driver of the car that struck the taxi driver; the taxi driver however sustained serious injuries and was evacuated to a local hospital with multiple trauma wounds.
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The incident took place along Route 5 between the Kfar Hayarok and Glilot .For reasons unknown the elderly driver entered the western bound lanes, driving opposite the direction of traffic until he hit another car.
The taxi driver noticed the accident and attempted to assist the drivers, however, after exiting his car, he was injured when a car driving eastbound stuck him.
Route 5 (Photo: Yaron Brenner)
MDA paramedics were alerted to the scene and administered initial medical care to the man who was then evacuated to the Rabin Medical Center in Petah Tikva suffering from multiple injuries and multi-system failure.
Traffic police arrived at the scene and shut down the road (which has since been reopened). They have begun conducting their investigation.
- When asked why he drove in the opposite direction, the elderly driver claimed he had "gotten lost" and couldn’t find his lane; he was taken in for further questioning.