HAUNTED BY HORROR CRASH
Witness to fatal accident struggling to cope with what he saw
RONNIE Kaye hasn’t slept for nearly two weeks, is not eating and has lost 5.5kg.
The 38-year-old motorbike rider was tailgated by the car that crashed and killed 15-year-old Jasey Grant (inset) at Oxenford.
Worse still, a part of him blames himself.
“Every time I hear a siren I see (Jasey’s) face and that just plays over and over,” Mr Kaye says of the nightmare.
RONNIE Kaye hasn’t slept for nearly two weeks.
He can’t get the nightmare out of his head. And the guilt. It is crippling.
“I’m not sleeping, I’m not eating — I’ve lost 5.5kg,” the 38-year-old says.
Two Sundays ago, Mr Kaye was accompanying a learner motorcyclist on his own bike when a silver Mitsubishi Lancer rushed up behind and began tailgating him.
Within two hours, one of the four people in that car would be pronounced dead and another would be in hospital.
The boy who died, 15-yearold aspiring musician Jasey Grant, was sitting behind the driver, Jordan Martin, 17, who remains in a stable condition in Gold Coast University Hospital.
No one has been charged with Jasey’s death. Police are investigating if speed was a factor.
“The visions since then – every time I hear a siren I see (Jasey’s) face and that just plays over and over,” Mr Kaye says. “I don’t know how to feel.”
Despite adopting the recommended technique of slowing slightly when the car was tailgating him, Mr Kayes cannot get past the “what ifs”.
“All I can think about is did I agitate (the driver)?
“Me, slowing him down, I felt guilty that he might have gotten angry because I was slowing him down.
“I think if I’d pulled over and let him go on his merry way...
“Maybe I caused what eventuated? I know I didn’t but it’s my thought process. I still feel guilty.”
THE TAILGATE
MR Kaye says he first noticed the silver car with a P-plate in the window on OxenfordTamborine Road, heading towards Tamborine, a few kilometres before the accident happened. It was about 3.20pm.
Soon enough Mr Kaye says the car is tailing him.
“We’ve gone through the roundabout and I checked my mirror and the car is still coming at me. I’m doing 60km and he’s right on my tail, so I slowed to 55km and stayed at 55km for a fair while.
“I went past the ponds (Russell Hinze Park) and he’s sitting behind me. I became so observant making sure they didn’t put me in any more danger.”
The driver backs off as they approach the bends, but speed up through the corners, causing Mr Kaye to feel unsafe. He considers pulling over but feels it is too unsafe.
“I got through the first two corners and on the third corner I’ve looked in my mirror and all I could see was the silver car driving straight through the corner. He straight-lined it.
“It was loose gravel so I decided not to stop.
“I thought ‘if I pull over he could collect me. If I don’t he still could’.”
THE CRASH
THEN it happened. The Lancer hit an oncoming ute carrying a mother and her children.
When Mr Kaye arrives on the scene, all he hears is screams.
“I’ve seen the silver car across the road in bits and pieces.
“I’ve stopped next to it, jumped off my bike and hear kids crying and screaming.
“I’ve looked in that direction and I’ve seen a mother. She’s just got out of the car. She’s crying hysterically and the kids are screaming.
“I heard her call her dad and say ‘Dad, help, I’ve been in an accident’.
“I then turned to the other screams. The silver car.
“It’s the young boy in the back seat and he’s screaming and thrashing.
“I ran over to the car and people made the suggestion of removing the injured kids.
“I said ‘leave them, support their neck and leave it to emergency services’.
“Two are stuck, the driver and the passenger behind him.”
THE INJURIES
MR Kaye says the car is caved in on the right hand side.
This is the part he still has nightmares about: “(Jasey) is screaming ... The car was in a V-shape from where it was hit on the side and the whole righthand side of the car was pushed in. He was pinned.
“I stayed right up until the ambulance left, watching him get cut out.”
THE BOY
WHEN Mr Kaye found out Jasey had died in the ambulance, only moments after he watched him being pulled from the wreckage, he couldn’t believe it.
“On the stretcher when he was flailing about I could see the extent of his injuries.
“But he was very much still alive.
“They got him to the ambulance, closed the doors and that was the last I saw of him.
“I couldn’t believe he was dead. He came past me still alive, still breathing.
“Yes, he was in pain but he was still alive.”
THE OTHER PASSENGERS
ONE thing that confused Mr Kaye was that the two passengers on the left hand side of the car left the scene. They ran.
“The guy on the front left (of the car) got out and beelined it. The other guy was still there but when I came back from directing traffic he was gone, too.”
THE AFTERMATH
WHILE Mr Kaye’s emergency response instincts kicked in during the 90 minutes of chaos, it wasn’t until he was alone that his emotions began to bite.
“I stayed there until after almost everyone left. When I dropped my learner off and was by myself, I lost it.
“Once I left the scene, by myself, I didn’t even make it halfway home and I lost it. Everything flooded back.”
Then, he did what is recommended, he sought help. But nearly two weeks after the crash he is still waiting to talk to counsellors.
“I presented to the police station for help almost immediately,” Mr Kaye says.
“I was contacted by counselling services four-five days later but they can’t see me until Friday, nearly two weeks (after the crash).
“I’m not sleeping, I’m not eating – I’ve lost 5.5kg.”
TIME FOR CHANGE
A MOTORCYCLIST for a decade, road accidents are nothing new to Mr Kaye. But after this experience, he feels he has a responsibility to speak up.
“Something needs to be said from my perspective.
“I have witnessed the horror of poor road safety.
“My take is we’re all about road safety, I get that, but we’re putting speed cameras on roads that need to be physically patrolled.
“It’s a five-second deterrent and then people go back to normal.
“Fines don’t stop from driving recklessly.
“Physically having a police car presence, that’s what makes people slow down and drive properly.
“It’s all good in practice but you need to be on the road and be seen to make a difference.” people