What seemed to be a normal working day ended last Saturday with a dull blow to Salim Sert. Literally: the traffic controller was escorting revelers home at the Bontgenoten festival in Eindhoven when he was hit by a car. A week later, the fear is still there. “I still think about it very often.”
Salim still remembers the incident in great detail. “The festival was over and all the people were walking towards the exit. Then suddenly a car drove up, which let its engine run a few times. A few women were shocked. ‘You bastard, what are you doing’, they shouted.”
To calm things down quickly, Salim walked over to the car. But the driver was not interested in a conversation. “He yelled some nasty comments. Why was he driving there at all? I think he wanted to cut off a bit.” The man did not listen to Salim’s request to take a detour.
“I immediately sprinted to that car and stood in front of it.”
In fact: “While I was trying to talk to him, he apparently suddenly saw a gap in the crowd. He thought he could quickly drive through it.” In that attempt, he ran right over Salim’s foot, who was fortunately wearing steel-toed work boots. “I immediately sprinted back to that car and stood in front of it.”
But then it all went wrong. “Suddenly he started driving again.” Salim saw only one option. “Jumping on the hood and holding on to myself as best I can.” He was dragged along for several meters. “At one point we were driving at least fifty kilometers per hour. When the car turned a corner, I was thrown off. From that moment it went black.”
“Imagine your child walking there…”
The blow that Salim made turns out to have caused quite a bit of damage a day later. “My foot is broken. And my head still hurts a lot.” Yet he gladly takes that for granted, because pride and relief dominate. “If I hadn’t stood in front of that car, he might have just run into that crowd. Imagine your kid walking there…”
The driver of the car has been arrested, but Salim has not had any further contact with the driver. “Somehow I would like that. Just to know if he has learned from his mistake. As far as we are concerned, he does not need to be punished so severely. As long as he sees what he could have done.”
In a while, Salim hopes to be able to resume his beloved job as a traffic controller. He is not afraid of another accident. “You always have bad apples, but I’ve never read anything like that myself. But first recover well.”
ALSO READ: Eindhoven road pirate breaks traffic warden’s foot