A North Hobart service station has suffered more than $80,000 worth of damage after a BMW driver smashed his car into two petrol bowsers on Saturday night.
Dramatic CCTV footage obtained by the Mercury shows the red BMW turn left from Burnett St on to Brooker Hwy before careering across the road and crashing into the bowsers at the Ampol service station about 9.10pm, sending debris flying.
The Mercury understands the driver, a 32-year-old man from Old Beach, and his female passenger quickly jumped out of the car, having heard hissing from the bowsers.
The pair, who did not suffer any injuries, abandoned the car and rang triple-0 from a safe distance away.
Owner of the Ampol service station, Stuart Cowen, told the Mercury the crash – which damaged his only AdBlue bowser – had left him devastated.
The servo had only five weeks ago begun selling the diesel exhaust fluid, which is pumped into trucks to reduce harmful gases being released into the atmosphere.
“It was the first AdBlue pump to be installed in the CBD of Hobart,” Mr Cowen said.
“Our customers will have to go to Moonah or … Bridgewater now.”
It takes 14 weeks to have a bowser brought over from Europe, according to Mr Cowen.
“To get a new pump from Germany will take a long time,” he said.
“I’ve got five double-sided pumps, so there are about 10 filling positions, so (this incident) has taken out about 20 per cent of our filling positions.”
However, Mr Cowen said thanks to insurance, he will not be out of pocket.
“This is more of a reminder for people to slow down and just drive a bit more carefully,” he said.
“Because the impacts of these sorts of things affect the whole community.
The service station was deemed safe on Sunday and has now reopened.
No arrests have been made in relation to the incident.
The driving conditions in North Hobart at the time of the crash are not known.
Tasmania Police have spoken to witnesses and have also obtained the CCTV footage.
However, they are aware that other members of the public may have witnessed the incident and are urging anyone able to provide further information to call police on 131 444 or Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.
Extracted from The Mercury