A lady who nearly lost her life after driving her car off a bridge in slick conditions received a mortifying $11,700 charge for the harm she did five years after the collision.
On May 31, 2017, Deb Maroney was driving her Ford Falcon across the Swansea bridge near Newcastle, New South Wales, when it slipped and she was pushed off the side of the bridge.
Ms. Maroney claimed that the rusty barrier on the bridge was unable to prevent her automobile from crashing into the swiftly flowing canal two meters below.
I believed I was going to pass away. She admitted to A Current Affair, “I was persuaded, I had given up.
Ms. Maroney said that five years after the devastating collision, she was still paying for treatment to aid in her recovery.
Because of the water hitting the car, she claimed she couldn’t even go through a car wash.
That was nothing compared to the shock of receiving a $11,758.45 bill from Transport NSW’s insurance provider iCare for the harm she caused to the bridge, though.
The amount, according to Ms. Maroney, “totally destroyed” her, and she was perplexed as to why she was being assessed damages since the road’s fencing was “inadequate.”
She claimed, “My car skidded on the rusty metal rail on the bridge, ran into these two fences, and drove right into the ocean.”
“I would have been fine if they had been anything substantial.”
Transport NSW was first made aware of Ms. Maroney’s charge after being contacted by the media last week, according to a spokesman.
According to her, Transport NSW contacted iCare right afterwards and asked them to withdraw the bill.
Ms. Maroney asserted that the bridge needs to be fixed or “it’ll kill someone,” though.
The representative for Transport NSW said that although annual maintenance inspections are carried out, there is no current intention to upgrade the bridge fencing.
Icare, the state-run insurer for NSW that offers insurance protection for infrastructure under Transport for NSW’s management, acknowledged that they were representing Transport for NSW in this dispute.
A spokesman told Daily Mail Australia, “We can confirm that after consulting with that agency, a decision was made not to pursue the costs any further.”
Icare apologizes for any issues this resolution process has caused.