Stop signs fail to deter drivers from racing through intersection where Jo-Ann Thwaites was killed

ONE quick-thinking man took this photo of a driver he says failed to stop after rear-ending his car at the same notoriously dangerous intersection where grandmother Jo-Ann Thwaites was killed.

This driver allegedly rear-ended a resident’s car at the corner of Old Pittwater Rd and Condamine St in Brookvale and failed to stop.

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A QUICK-THINKING vigilante retiree has taken an unhappy snap of a hit-and-run driver who allegedly rear-ended him at the corner where an Allambie Heights grandmother was killed.

A month after Jo-Ann Thwaites was killed — after she was hit by two trucks — at the corner of Condamine St and Old Pittwater Rd, Brookvale the installation of stop signs has not prevented drivers from flouting the law, according to Freshwater resident John Wallace, 80.

Jo-Ann Thwaites, pictured here with her husband, was killed at the intersection.

He was hit on June 16 as freshly placed stop signs went into effect.

And, while the damage looks minimal, he said it was likely to cost $5000 to repair his wife Erlinda’s Mercedes-Benz sedan.

“I shop there (Warringah Mall) on a regular basis. Coming out normally we would turn right to go towards Balgowlah but on this occasion we had to pick up my wife’s mother near Dee Why so we turned left. That is when it went bang.

“We were both quite shocked, my wife froze.”

The corner of Old Pittwater and Condamine, Brookvale, where stop signs have been placed in front of the pedestrian crossing where Jo-Ann Thwaites was struck by a truck. Photo: Adam Ward

Mr Wallace, a retired photographer, grabbed a camera from the glovebox and took a quick snap.

“He put his hands up to his face, drove past me,” he said.

“He started abusing me. He said, ‘What did you stop for?’ I said, ‘There’s a stop sign’ ... then he just took off.”

Police used the photograph and registration information to track down the man, who now has to cover Mr Wallace’s bill.

He said the intersection needed a set of lights to govern the entire strip before another tragedy occurred.

“I can’t believe the amount of trucks and cars that are just rolling through,” Mr Wallace said.

“They are so used to looking towards the right, they are not looking left.”

The RMS was this week expected to start a review of safety measures on the strip.