Simon was over the limit, claim two expert reports

TWO separate expert reports on a deadly car crash in which boxer Harry Simon was involved have concluded that Simon’s vehicle was travelling at between 165 and 180 km an hour – more than twice the speed limit on that road – at the time.

The two experts – who have compiled reports on the accident that took place at a turn-off to the Langstrand residential area on the evening of November 21 2002 – claim that Simon’s vehicle was probably travelling on the right-hand side of the road and appeared to be going back towards the left-hand side lane, when it struck the Belgians’ vehicle head-on. The crash claimed the lives of three Belgian tourists visiting Namibia.Simon is set to appear again in the Walvis Bay Magistrate’s Court on a charge of culpable homicide on July 1.The case was postponed to that date earlier this year in order for the Prosecutor General to decide on the prosecution of the former world champion boxer.The crash involved a four-wheel-drive Mercedes-Benz ML500, allegedly driven by Simon, and a rented Nissan Hardbody Double Cab 4×4, which was carrying four adult Belgians and three children.At the time of the accident, it was claimed that the Belgians’ vehicle was stationary, facing to the south on the left-hand side of the Walvis Bay-Swakopmund road, where the party of tourists were waiting to turn to their right into the turn-off to Langstrand.Eyewitnesses claimed that Simon’s vehicle smashed into the Belgians as the boxer’s vehicle was apparently overtaking another vehicle – at a spot where road markings prohibited overtaking.That account of the accident is supported in the reports by the two experts.The first report was compiled for the National Forensic Science Institute of Namibia by accident reconstruction specialist Wilna Badenhorst on February 29 this year.A second report was compiled by J.P. Strydom, a traffic accident analyst based in Sandton in South Africa’s Gauteng Province, in March this year on the instructions of a Windhoek law firm that represents two of the Belgian survivors of the accident.Essentially, Badenhorst and Strydom came to similar main conclusions: that Simon’s vehicle was travelling at great speed – at least more than twice the legal speed limit for the stretch of the road where the crash occurred – and that the crash happened while Simon’s vehicle was travelling in the lane meant for oncoming traffic – the lane where the Belgians’ bakkie was waiting to turn off to Langstrand.They reached their conclusions after analysing the damage to the two vehicles, marks that were left in the road after the crash, examining witness statements and visiting the scene of the accident late last year.Both experts noted that damage to the front of Simon’s vehicle was concentrated to the right-front and middle-front side of the car.Most of the damage to the front of the Nissan was concentrated to its left front.They concluded that this indicated that the Mercedes-Benz did not collide head-on with the Nissan bakkie.Instead, it appeared to have crashed into the left front of the Nissan at an angle – according to Badenhorst most probably “at an angle as if the driver was negotiating back into its lane of travel”.According to Strydom “the Mercedes Benz vehicle was not travelling in a straight line prior to the collision”.Closer towards the end of his report, Strydom was even more forthright in his judgement: “I am of the opinion that collision occurred in the north to south lane, i.e. the lane in which the Nissan LDV was travelling in.This means that the Mercedes Benz vehicle was on its incorrect side of the road when collision occurred.”Badenhorst calculated that Simon’s vehicle was going at a speed of at least 165 km/h at the time of the crash.Strydom put its speed “in the order of 180 km/h”.He added: “I wish to mention that the initial speed of the Mercedes Benz vehicle was much higher than the impact speed.In the statement of Mr Solomon Boois, he mentioned that the vehicle in front of him (the Mercedes Benz vehicle) applied brakes.”The November 2002 accident was the second deadly crash that Simon had been involved in the space of 19 months.In April 2001 another of Simon’s vehicles crashed into a car outside Swakopmund.The occupants of that vehicle – a married couple from Swakopmund – were both killed.Simon was never prosecuted in that cast:the investigation of the incident was also hampered when blood samples that were supposed to be analysed for the alcohol content of Simon’s blood disappeared before the test results could be done.Simon sustained fractures in the November 2002 accident which have put his boxing career on hold until now.The crash claimed the lives of three Belgian tourists visiting Namibia.Simon is set to appear again in the Walvis Bay Magistrate’s Court on a charge of culpable homicide on July 1.The case was postponed to that date earlier this year in order for the Prosecutor General to decide on the prosecution of the former world champion boxer.The crash involved a four-wheel-drive Mercedes-Benz ML500, allegedly driven by Simon, and a rented Nissan Hardbody Double Cab 4×4, which was carrying four adult Belgians and three children.At the time of the accident, it was claimed that the Belgians’ vehicle was stationary, facing to the south on the left-hand side of the Walvis Bay-Swakopmund road, where the party of tourists were waiting to turn to their right into the turn-off to Langstrand.Eyewitnesses claimed that Simon’s vehicle smashed into the Belgians as the boxer’s vehicle was apparently overtaking another vehicle – at a spot where road markings prohibited overtaking.That account of the accident is supported in the reports by the two experts.The first report was compiled for the National Forensic Science Institute of Namibia by accident reconstruction specialist Wilna Badenhorst on February 29 this year.A second report was compiled by J.P. Strydom, a traffic accident analyst based in Sandton in South Africa’s Gauteng Province, in March this year on the instructions of a Windhoek law firm that represents two of the Belgian survivors of the accident.Essentially, Badenhorst and Strydom came to similar main conclusions: that Simon’s vehicle was travelling at great speed – at least more than twice the legal speed limit for the stretch of the road where the crash occurred – and that the crash happened while Simon’s vehicle was travelling in the lane meant for oncoming traffic – the lane where the Belgians’ bakkie was waiting to turn off to Langstrand.They reached their conclusions after analysing the damage to the two vehicles, marks that were left in the road after the crash, examining witness statements and visiting the scene of the accident late last year.Both experts noted that damage to the front of Simon’s vehicle was concentrated to the right-front and middle-front side of the car.Most of the damage to the front of the Nissan was concentrated to its left front.They concluded that this indicated that the Mercedes-Benz did not collide head-on with the Nissan bakkie.Instead, it appeared to have crashed into the left front of the Nissan at an angle – according to Badenhorst most probably “at an angle as if the driver was negotiating back into its lane of travel”.According to Strydom “the Mercedes Benz vehicle was not travelling in a straight line prior to the collision”.Closer towards the end of his report, Strydom was even more forthright in his judgement: “I am of the opinion that collision occurred in the north to south lane, i.e. the lane in which the Nissan LDV was travelling in.This means that the Mercedes Benz vehicle was on its incorrect side of the road when collision occurred.”Badenhorst calculated that Simon’s vehicle was going at a speed of at least 165 km/h at the time of the crash.Strydom put its speed “in the order of 180 km/h”.He added: “I wish to mention that the initial speed of the Mercedes Benz vehicle was much higher than the impact speed.In the statement of Mr Solomon Boois, he mentioned that the vehicle in front of him (the Mercedes Benz vehicle) applied brakes.”The November 2002 accident was the second deadly crash that Simon had been involved in the space of 19 months.In April 2001 another of Simon’s vehicles crashed into a car outside Swakopmund.The occupants of that vehicle – a married couple from Swakopmund – were both killed.Simon was never prosecuted in that cast:the investigation of the incident was also hampered when blood samples that were supposed to be analysed for the alcohol content of Simon’s blood disappeared before the test results could be done.Simon sustained fractures in the November 2002 accident which have put his boxing career on hold until now.