Fed up with people treating his neighbourhood like a race track, a Sutherland Shire man’s mission to highlight dangerous driving on public roads has attracted the support of police, along with thousands of motorists around Australia.
“Help, I’ve binned my car in the Nasho” publishes the results of crashes in the Royal National Park, home to winding roads favoured by enthusiasts.
Created by a local bloke keen to keep his identity private - as the drivers of cars on his page would prefer not to have their mishaps aired in public - the site has been supported by NSW Police’ highway patrol Facebook page, which shared several recent photos to a broad audience.
“Nasho”, as we’ll call him, says the most recent post was seen by more than 370,000 people who tuned in to a “thirsty horse incident” involving a late model Ford Mustang which crashed off the roadway before landing in shallow water at Audley Weir.
“I’m a local to the area, I’ve seen many smashed cars and even bikes off to the side of the park over the years,” he says.
“The most recent Mustang mishap made the biggest impression, the post was even shared by NSW Traffic Command and Highway Patrol.
“The reach it gained was incredible.”
Police shared pictures of the Mustang’s watery crash and subsequent retrieval on the same weekend a motorcycle rider was caught exceeding the speed limit in the national park by almost 100km/h.
A police spokeswoman said “investigations are continuing” into the Mustang crash, while a NSW Ambulance spokesman said paramedics were not called to the scene, suggesting the driver was not badly hurt.
Police could not provide statistics surrounding serious crashes in the park.
Nasho’s page has attracted almost 11,000 regular followers.
While early pictures would receive a couple of dozen comments, recent efforts attracted significant engagement including more than 1000 likes, comments and shares for a set of photos.
The page’s creator “never really expected it to blow up as quickly as it did”.
“I originally started the page as a bit of a laugh, to have a poke at those who ‘ran out of talent’ as such, because you and I both know it’s not just a road used for a casual Sunday drive,” he says.
“On the flip side though, it was also an awareness thing, maybe give people a reason to relax a bit rather than get plastered all over a public Facebook page.”
That electronic fame, or perhaps e-shame, might help modify the behaviour of car lovers tempted to push their car to the limits on public roads.
Some of the crashes featured on the page include performance cars such as the Toyota 86, Nissan 370Z and HSV GTS.
Nasho says he doesn’t discriminate between vehicle types, and that regular cars also make an appearance - including a p-plate driver’s Subaru Impreza which appeared to feature incorrectly mounted directional tyres.
The caption attached to that photo sums up his intentions well: “seriously guys, slow down aye”.
