Power Outage After Car Smashes Pole
[Updated] Some West End residents woke up this New Year’s Day to find their electricity off due to an accident overnight which saw a car smash into a utility pole.
BELCO managed to restore power to all of the 140 households left without power by at 11:41 am.
The accident occurred at sometime around 3am this morning [Jan.1], and resulted in the car being lodged on a wall and smashed into a pole at the junction of Middle Road and Church Road in Southampton.
Unofficial reports indicate there may have been four people in the car when the accident occurred, and none of them sustained injuries requiring medical treatment.
The pole was leaning noticeably, and both the bottom and the top of the pole sustained damage from the accident. Although the accident itself did not cause the power outage, BELCO needed to turn off the power in order to safely allow the tow truck to remove the car from its position lodged on the pole.
BELCO cut the power at approximately 5.30am, and a tow truck arrived and removed the vehicle while firefighters remained on standby. After the car was removed, a new pole was delivered and BELCO staff started working on repairs. Unofficially we understand power may be out in the area for a few hours, however we will update with official information as able.
There was another accident in the wee hours of this morning in the opposite end of the island. As of 4.30am, there was damaged car on Harrington Sound Road [just east of Devil's Hole] with Police on scene allowing one way traffic through the area.
This is the second time in recent weeks that a vehicle accident has caused a power outage, following after an incident in November in which a bus smashed into a pole, resulting in over 500 households losing power.
Update: Video of tow truck removing car.
Update #2: BELCO said that due to the accident a broken main-line pole needed to be replaced. A section of circuit was isolated to facilitate removing the vehicle and carrying out pole removal, replacement and transferring equipment to the new pole.
Approximately 140 customers were without supply as there were no further switch-points to reduce outage area. Work was completed and supply restored to all customers at 11:41am.
Update #3, Jan 2, 9.20pm: Police said the drivers of both cars pictured above were arrested on suspicion of Driving Under the Influence but both passed the alco-analyser test. The full police statement follows below:
Around 4:05am on Sunday, January 1st police and first responders attended a reported single vehicle collision on Harrington Sound Road in Hamilton Parish near Arrowroot Lane. It appears that a car was travelling along Harrington Sound Road when it collided with a utility pole. Both the car and the pole were damaged as a result. The driver, a 25 year old Devonshire man, was injured and treated at King Edward VII Memorial Hospital. He was later discharged. The driver was subsequently arrested on suspicion of impaired driving but passed the alco-analyser test and was released from custody.
Around 3:30am on Sunday, January 1st police responded to a reported single vehicle damage only collision at the junction of Middle Road and Church Road in Southampton. It appears that a car was travelling along Middle Road when it collided with a utility pole at the junction. Both the car and the pole were damaged as a result. The driver of the car, an 18 year old Hamilton parish man and his four passengers also 18 year old men, were reportedly uninjured. The driver was subsequently arrested on suspicion of impaired driving but passed the alco-analyser test and was released from custody.
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Category: Accidents and fires, All, News
Bermuda…you always learn your lessons the HARD WAY!!!
Ouch…I hope that this was a case of falling asleep at the wheel or being distracted. Hope that everyone involved in both cases is okay. By the way is that a drink cooler on the ground just outside the car ??? Is that coincidence, or something used by the EMTs on the scene or not a cooler at all? I cant really tell.
8:45 still no power in my area of Southampton… Hope the driver was tested for DUI…
He wasn’t drunk & learn your facts! Get over yourself, if power is your biggest worry you must have a very blessed life. I envy you.
Ok… He wasn’t drunk. But you cannot deny that he was speeding.
he swerved because a car has come speeding down the hill and did not stop and just pulled out in front of him… he swerved to avoid hitting the car when his tires slid on the wet road and he collided with the pole.
Let the Police deal with it…you sound like his girlfriend being all defensive and all and giving excuses for this crash.
Wasn’t drunk…? Well in that case he must have been driving like an idiot.
Wow, that’s a lot of damage considering they were going at not more than 35k.
I’ll bet that the pole it ‘collided’ with was doing a pretty good speed as well.
It amazes me that after a serious accident where potentially 5 or more people could have been seriously injured, people assume that those responsible are not taking responsibility for their actions. Making sarcastic remarks implying that he would blame anyone BUT himself is unnecessary and rude.
Well your friends may have been in the car, but these comments arise because these pictures appear every weekend. Every week there is at least one car that smashes through a wall, overturns, or collides with an inanimate object in a high-speed single-vehicle accident. It’s not that I don’t have sympathy for the innocent victims (I do), but if people were a bit more responsible in the first place these things could be avoided.
To clarify it is highly unlikely that it was an accident. It was a crash.
Accidents happen because of a failure not caused by the operator.
Crashes are 100% human caused.
10am WTF BELCO – We’ve almost spent as much time without electricity this year as we have with it.
Wow! So you are complaining about not being without electricity for what 6 hours!! I am sure they are trying their best to get the power back on.
Be grateful that you have electricity, a roof over your head etc. Suck it up!!
BELCO is brutal. Look for them to raise prices again this year too.
Not Belco’s fault jerk. Blame the driver of the car. IDIOT
Really, Belco is doing the best they can. The issue you should have is with the car driver, find out who it was and take it out on him, not the people working on their day off to fix the mess the driver caused. I really wish there was some way of these drivers that drive recklessly and cause damage and traffic diversions etc being liable for the inconvenience they cause others as well as the repairs to property. I can’t see any valid reason for all the damaged walls around the island caused by cars, most at night. I spend a lot of time on the road and see so many cases of crazy driving, the kids on bikes who grow up learning to pass cars and be at the head of the line of traffic do the same thing when they graduate to cars.
I do believe if you read it says: “Although the accident itself did not cause the power outage, BELCO needed to turn off the power in order to safely allow the tow truck to remove the car from its position lodged on the pole.” So, what’s the issue with the driver? No one has any right to place blame anywhere! If you weren’t involved you know nothing and shouldn’t assume nor attempt to reason.
Are you for real??? Lets say your friend wasn’t drinking, or speeding, and not on a cell phone with two hands on the wheel and paying complete attention to the road…did the pole break on its own. What the report means is that the electricity did not go out when they broke the pole. However, if you really believe that the accident and your friends had nothing to do with the power outage, you are living in another world. I do hope they are all okay and I really do hope it was just an accident…but if you don’t think the driver wasn’t to blame, ask yourself would the pole have broken if they didn’t hit it? Another person living in a world where there is no responsibility for ones actions.
My thoughts exactly.
So what was the reason that the car ended up on the other side of the road up a pole? Obviously the driver loss control of the car. Hopefully everyone in the car are ok and it may be a lesson learned.
@ my friends …
Your train of thought belies any sense whatsoever.. ANY !
The car hit and broke the pole .
Just by chance the power didn’t go out then and there .. Had the lines parted from the pole at the instant of the accident your friends would be getting buried in ceramic jars next week.
BELCO had to turn off the power to fix the pole back to it’s original state before the crash .
Got it ?
2012 is going to be a rough year, everywhere. A few hours without electricity will be one of the minimal interuptions in anyones life.
Looks like the year will be the year of the ‘Bitchers Moaners, Part Deux’.
Get prepared; it’s gonna be a rough ride, literally.
Be thankfull for the little things. Were not Syria, Yemen, Somalia, Iran, et al, yet.
I so agree with you Terry!!
BERNEWS YOU ARE THE BEST KEEP US IN TOUCH HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!!!
send the driver the bill, belco !!!!!!
These asses were speedin’…so don’t go defendin’ ignorant fools. They’re lucky they didn’t kill themselves let alone somebody else drivin’ home sensibly from a New Years Eve celebration. That’s half the problem…ignorants defending ignorants all the time. And yes I’M BERMUDIAN!
Thanks to the BELCO workers who are out on New Year’s day, leaving their families at home on OUR behalf. Not only do they provide us with power (which is not usually entirely essential) but “easy” water as well (which is much more essential) – so THANK YOU THANK YOU and more THANK YOU!!! I really hope that those guys being negative about you are out there working today.
Trebble time? They are not complaining.
The point is not what they are getting paid – the point is that they are there! In order to get treble time for holidays – you have to work the rest of your regular time as well and have a skill to proffer – so you go guys!
Your post makes no sense Cathy
Everyone! It is not Belco’s fault!!! It may have been the driver’s fault, BUT! it also could have been that the car just slipped off the road! So everyone just CHILL!!!! Stop blaming others it was an accident! The main thing is luckily no one got hurt!
BELCO out on New Years Day for a jerk?
I wonder what the statistic is for miles driven per crash in Bermuda. Extremely high I’m sure. There is no excuse for it in a place where the speeds are so low. Well, at least they should be.
Last year, 2011, I drove from the east coast to Alaska & return, a total distance on the vehicle of some 16,000 miles. Doubt if I saw any more than half a dozen crashes in the whole trip. In Bermuda you would be lucky to travel 160 miles without seeing a crash.
Car slipped off the road – Ha Yeah right!
People it say power outage – not power outrage…
I was the driver of this car. truthfully this was a mistake. i will admit i was not driving the speed limit. I learnt my lesson a very very hard way. I endangered the lives of 4 of my close friends on a day that we should have been celebrating and another year to come. But instead due to another driver driving irresponsibly and me also not driving like i was suppose to i slammed breaks on a very wet road. You can see the end result. I apologize for my mistake and take full responsibility for what happened. I also apologize the residence that i left without power. Life goes on and i am just bless that me and my friends still have ours.
To the driver of the car, you have learnt to drive now you have to learn how to drive and not blame other people for your mistakes – two wrongs do not make a right. Don’t forget to thank the good Lord that your friends and you are safe.