Last week the beautiful Italian town of Ravello experienced an horrific road accident which just by chance resulted in the death of “only” one young driver whereas it could have been 30 or more deaths or injuries. Let me explain.
Ravello is 350m above sea level and very close to the town of Amalfi. Ravello is famous for music and holds the Wagner Festival each year which draws many visitors. It is also specialised in holding large events and meetings, glamorous weddings are often held in the town.
But logistically the Amalfi Coast and Ravello in particular are challenging, to say the least, and local transport is frequently overwhelmed by the volume of traffic and the roads were build MANY years ago (for horses) and then never really modernised. The road from Ravello down to Amalfi is also very steep.
So what happened last week was not suprising considering also the very wet May we are experiencing which makes these roads very slippery. At midday on Monday 8th of May a 30-seater minibus operated by a local company Fusco Agerola (and driven by the 29 year old son of the owner) had just left his tourists in Ravello and was heading towards Amalfi. When he arrived at the 180 degree right hand bend at the end of the town, we don’t know why, the minibus failed to take the corner and instead hit the wall. This old and crumbling wall which was only 60cm high and not in a good state of repair failed to hold the bus which then flew through the wall, bounced onto the road below and then down onto a walkway where it ended up “parked” next to a house some 35 metres below the curve and wall.
The body of the poor driver was found in a nearby river, it seems that he jumped from the vehicle. The house is not inhabited and no pedestrians were nearby. And no vehicle was travelling on the road when the minibus landed accompanied of course by a mass of tree branches and rocks. Goodness.
Tragically the minibus is still there one week later and will need to be removed using a helicopter. Ironically the cycle race Giro di Italia travelled down the same road 3 days after the accident and the press helicopters showed that bus on TV, the local council did not even cover it with a simple tarpaulin.
Service no limits! 