A woman who stopped to help at an accident scene on Wednesday has pleaded with motorists to be patient with learner drivers.
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Virginia Fletcher, who grew up in Batemans Bay and visits regularly, made her heartfelt plea after the second accident involving an L-plate driver on Eurobodalla roads in three days.
“When you are sitting on someone else’s backside, it causes nerves and pressure,” Mrs Fletcher said.
“If you are behind an L-plate driver, allow yourself at least two car spaces to take the pressure off the driver.
Mrs Fletcher came upon an overturned red hatchback mid-afternoon on Wednesday, on Dunns Creek Road, Surf Beach.
“The wheels were still spinning," she said.
"I thought ‘this has just happened’ and stopped.”
Three people were in the car, driven by an L-plater.
“Another gentleman stopped and helped get all three out,” she said.
Mrs Fletcher believed no-one was hurt and understood the driver had attempted to pull off the road to let a following car pass.
“The car hit the gravel and slid out, before flipping onto its roof,” she said.
“The whole accident could have been avoided if there wasn’t an impatient driver sitting on her tail.”
Mrs Fletcher said the crash left everyone visibly shaken.
She said the learner had not been going too fast.
“She was definitely not speeding,” Mrs Fletcher said.
“She just hit the gravel and then a drainage ditch, which flipped the car.
“She was trying to be polite.
The passing vehicle did not stop.
Mrs Fletcher said she herself had been harried on the same road a short time earlier. She said, about five minutes beforehand, a motorist had driven dangerously close behind her, before passing.“The other person was on my backside and was impatient,” Mrs Fletcher said.
“My daughter had her L-plates and my son is about to get his, so I know what it is like.
“Everyone should be careful. Everyone is in such a rush to get from A to B.
“Everyone has to learn - slow down.
“Getting to your destination a few minutes earlier isn’t worth an accident.”
On Monday, a following car struck a learner driver on the Princes Highway, south of Batemans Bay.