On March 22, Phil Burt pulled into a cleared area on the Princes Highway, just south of the “Welcome to Batemans Bay” sign. Soon after, he was being airlifted to Canberra hospital.
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Although the cleared area is a large one, Mr Burt said he felt unsafe parked there.
“I knew it was dangerous, so I was treading carefully,” he said.
“Another vehicle was coming on that right-hand corner – which is a bit off-camber – and there was water across the road.
“The poor lady behind me just lost control, and hit the car I was in … and threw me 30 metres across the road.”
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Mr Burt – who received a 2010 Australia Day award for his decades of commitment to the Batemans Bay basketball club – sustained multiple injuries.
“I have broken ribs, 12 stitches on one side of the head, a big hole on the other side that I have to see a plastic surgeon for, a dislocated shoulder, hip soft-tissue damage, broken nose, broken orbit,” he said.
I was knocked out for about 30 minutes
“I’m struggling to remember things, very dizzy when I stand up and sit down, a concussion.
“I was knocked out for about 30 minutes, and I’m just slowly slowly getting better.
“It was just an unfortunate accident.”
Mr Burt exhorted drivers to be mindful.
“I know the lady that hit me was going under the speed limit, and it wasn’t really her fault,” he said.
If the road isn’t up to scratch, just drive to the conditions
“There was water on the road, on an off-camber corner, on a dangerous piece of road.
“If the road isn’t up to scratch, just drive to the conditions.”
The Princes Highway between Batemans Bay and Mogo has been notorious for accidents for many years, with three crashes in the space of a month late last year.
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