Young mum, Natasha Karamanis, who was involved in a horror crash at an intersection in Sydney’s north, has joined hundreds of others in calling for urgent council action.
According to The Daily Telegraph, an online petition calling for an upgrade at Old Pitt Town Road and Terry Road in Box Hill has attracted almost 2000 signatures so far.
It claims the intersection is “dangerous” because of an “overlap” between the right hand turning lanes from Old Pitt Town Road into Fontana Drive and Old Pitt Town Road into Terry Road.
With the opening of nearby school, Sancta Sophia, later this year, residents also expressed their concern over more motorists in the area, particularly those “unfamiliar” with the intersection.
“It just doesn’t sit well with me that we are about to add parents with children attempting to get to school on time, together with large construction trucks trying to navigate this intersection together,” petition organiser, Evana Geering, told The Daily Telegraph.
“It’s a disaster waiting to happen.”
For Natasha Karamanis, she was hospitalised after she was involved in a “pretty bad” crash last Thursday at the same intersection.
The mother-of-four told the newspaper she was driving on Old Pitt Town Road after finishing work at about 5.45pm. As she entered the intersection intending to go straight down Old Pitt Town Road towards Rouse Hill, her blue Toyota Corolla collided with a white SUV which was turning right on Terry Road.
“Before I knew it we hit. I didn’t see her… I think she didn’t see me because of all the cars turning right,” Ms Karamanis said.
“It was lucky because I was doing 60 (in a 70km/h zone). I can’t imagine what would’ve happened if I was doing the speed limit.”
Ms Karamanis was taken to hospital with concussion and required scans for her chest, stomach and leg injuries, The Daily Telegraph reports.
She was released from hospital on Monday with bruises, but said she is still “traumatised” from the crash.
“It took me this to realise what a dangerous intersection it is… With the bank up of cars on opposite sites, you can’t see people going straight,” she said.
A Hills Shire Council spokeswoman told The Daily Telegraph it is working with Transport for NSW to upgrade the intersection at Old Pitt Town Road, Terry Road and Fontana Drive in Box Hill.
“Council anticipates the detailed design to be completed in August 2021, and this design includes plans for the installation of traffic signals,” the spokeswoman said.
Source: The Daily Telegraph.
