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The
OLIVE PRESS
Mijas Costa FREE
expat
voice in Spain
Vol. 13 Issue 324 www.theolivepress.es August 14th - August 27th 2019
Spanish among best drivers DESPITE their poor reputation, Spanish drivers are not the worst on the road. That is according to the annual survey by the Spanish Royal Automobile Club (RACE). The study of 15 EU countries focuses on driving under the influence and falling asleep at the wheel. A total of 3,368 18 to 75-year-olds were quizzed from Spain, Norway, Finland, Germany, Poland, Portugal, France, Italy, Sweden, Austria, Belgium, the Netherlands, Switzerland, the Czech Republic and the UK. Spain has dropped to eighth for fatalities and now has 39 deaths for every million people - the European average is 51. After Sweden (25) the UK has the second lowest road death rate of 27 per million people, while the worst is Romania (99). Once on the road, two hours and seven minutes is the average time it takes a Spanish driver to take a break. That puts Spain fourth, while the Portuguese are the most frequent stoppers at just an hour and 45 minutes. Shockingly, 5.2% of Europeans admit almost falling asleep on long journeys, while the figure for Spain is 2.3%. Meanwhile, 27% of those polled admitted they would not stop at all for journeys of four hours or less. The study revealed that 43.5% of Europeans have driven after drinking, with 22% always or almost always doing so. Around 14.4% of Spaniards always or almost always drive after drinking, while it is 27.5% in the UK and 32.9% in France.
Your
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See page 40
‘Left to die’
British expat war veteran shocked after pleas for ambulance denied THREE times on Costa del Sol A BRITISH war veteran has slammed Spanish paramedics after claiming he was forced to ‘keep himself alive’ for 23 hours after they refused to take him to hospital. David Walter West, who served with the SAS in Afghanistan, says he was forced to lie in his own filth after falling out of bed at his home in Casares Costa. The former lieutenant colonel from Hull, 73, was recovering from a knee operation and having two pins put in his femur when he smashed his head on the bed frame and passed out. But when he woke up 12 hours later firemen and police turned up, while paramedics simply put the father-of-one back to bed. “I was worried I would die and I nearly did,” David told the Olive
EXCLUSIVE By Charlie Smith
Press, “I was taking deep breaths, but my lung capacity was only about 10%, it was just about staying alive.” Once paramedics arrived, they refused to take David to hospital, despite him telling them, ‘I can’t breathe’.
Begging
His health then rapidly deteriorated in the following week and the emergency services were called twice more. After the third time, his friend Luisa began ‘begging’ officials at Sabinillas Health Centre to take him to hospital, but they still refused. It was only when Luisa approached Casares Councillor Antonia Pine-
BEDRIDDEN: Expat war hero David in his hospital bed
da that David was transferred to the Hospital Costa del Sol, where he remains to this day, some four months later. “I personally called 061, introduced myself as a Councillor from the town hall of Casares, and requested that they send an ambulance with a medical unit so that they could attend David, who was in very bad condition,” the politician told the Olive Press. David added: “I’ve done 300 parachute
jumps, been blown up twice and shot once. “I’ve had medical treatment in several countries, but there’s only Libya and Afghanistan that are worse than here.” Despite repeated attempts, no one from the Casares or Manilva town halls was available to comment. Residents between Manilva and Casares Costa have long complained of a lack of ambulances to deal with emergencies, with emergency vehicles often having to be borrowed from private companies or neighbouring Estepona. Opinion Page 6
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