WATCH | Moment alleged drunk BMW driver rams woman in Durban

A Durban man is on the warpath to ensure that he gets justice for his wife‚ who was severely injured when a man seemingly deliberately drove into her last Sunday.

Grant Christianson told TimesLIVE on Friday morning that he was driving along Durban’s beachfront when the driver of a BMW tried to overtake him on the single-land road. But the man had to slam on brakes and swerve back behind him to avoid a head-on collision with oncoming traffic. In that process‚ he hit the back left side of Christianson’s Corolla.

“Every thing happened so quickly and spiralled out of control‚” Christianson said.

While still driving‚ the former attorney – who is now a legal advisor at an IT firm – started recording on his cellphone.

“I drove to the end of the road. I stopped and got out and said to him that he should follow to a police station. My wife‚ Kim‚ was also videoing. She got out of her side of the car [and] he held up his hat trying to cover his face‚” said Christianson.

What happened next shocked him.

“He drove into my car again; this time the right front came into contact with the left back of my car. He quickly reversed and tried to go around us. He went alongside my car and turned directly into my wife and crushed her between the two cars‚ then raced off.

“You can see the video of the guy coming towards her‚ turning his steering wheel‚ laughing and crushing her and the video goes pear-shaped‚” he said.

The video footage taken by Kim was sent to TimesLIVE on Friday morning. It shows the BMW driver seemingly smiling as he turns into her. A scream is heard before the footage cuts.

“We thought her legs were broken. An off-duty paramedic came and attended to Kim. Metro Police officers who were on the scene asked me if I could move the car out of the road to a safer place. But I didn’t want to go unless I found her phone because I couldn’t find it [after she was hit].

“I thought the phone had been taken because a crowd had now started to gather‚ not maybe fell in this guy’s car. I put on the ‘Find my friends’ app‚ which we use as a family to track each other for safety’s sake. Her phone was indicating it was in a road above the Umgeni Bird Park‚ a few kilometres away. Put my wife in my car and followed to the address‚ and we caught the guy there. I’ve got it all on video‚” he said.

Christianson said that the man‚ a 25-year-old medical intern whose name is known to TimesLIVE‚ was “under the influence of something strong”. The man was taken to hospital and had blood taken. SAPS spokesman Captain Nqobile Gwala confirmed the arrest.

“We can confirm that a 25-year-old suspect was arrested by Durban Central police for drunken driving and reckless and negligent driving. He appeared in Durban Magistrate’s Court on 29 August 2017‚” she said.

Gwala added that information on the outcome of the case wasn’t immediately known. TimesLIVE has approached the NPA for information‚ and the story will be updated to reflect this. Christianson said that he was determined for action to be taken‚ and not just because of what happened to Kim.

“Recently there was a case of a drunk driving lawyer who killed someone on Riverside Road‚ and there was a drunk driving speedster who killed cyclists on the M4 [freeway]. This is all in few kilometres’ radius from where our incident happened. People are travelling and driving drunk with impunity. It’s awful‚” he said.