Laagna tee: Pedestrian waiting for bus dies in road traffic accident

The alarm center (Häirekeskus) received a call at 6:38 p.m. reporting a collision involving four passenger vehicles on Laagna tee in the residential district of Lasnamäe. The collision killed a pedestrian, a 61-year-old woman, standing at a nearby bus stop.

The chain of events of the four car-collision and who was at fault is still to be ascertained, the Police and Border Guard Board (PPA) says, though preliminary data indicates that one vehicle was traveling in excess of the speed limit.

Criminal proceedings have been initiated by the prosecutor's office Northern District, to establish culpability.

It has also been clarified that the driver of the same vehicle, a 20-year-old man, does not hold a license and received a traffic offense penalty three years ago; in addition the vehicle in question itself had been at fault in several past traffic offenses, though not involving the same driver, ERR reports.

The driver was found not to be over the legal alcohol limit for driving, though this is being ascertained for the other drivers involved.

One other person, a 32-year-old woman, standing in the vicinity of the bus stop was injured and is now in hospital, as were all five occupants of the four cars, at least two of them seriously, ERR's online news in Estonian reports.

The driver of one of the vehicles involved in the accident, a 39-year-old man, died in hospital on Sunday afternoon.

Additionally, a dog which was being carried in one of the vehicles involved fled the scene, though it has subsequently been caught; the severity of the animal's injuries have not been reported.

The PPA asks anyone who witnessed the traffic accident on Laagna tee to call 112 or email them.

Motorcylist killed in Viimsi

A motorcyclist died in a traffic accident on Randvere tee in Viimsi, just outside Tallinn, on Saturday night.

The alarm center received a call at 7:09 p.m. on Saturday that a passenger vehicle and motorcycle had collided on Randvere tee, a main thoroughfare.

The motorcyclist, a 30-year-old man, died of his injuries.

Vyacheslav Shatalov, the field manager of the PPA's Ida-Harju Patrol Service, said that preliminary data shows that a 74-year-old man had pulled out from a side street onto Randvere tee, thinking the way was clear. The motorcyclist, traveling in the direction of Pirita and who may have been exceeding the speed limit, collided with the car. The occupants of the car – the driver and two women – were attended to by an ambulance crew but were not seriously injured.

Shatalov emphasized the importance of being vigilant for motorcyclists, who are less easy to spot even when riding at or under the speed limit.

Criminal proceedings in this case have also been initiated, by the PPA itself this time.

Saku fatal accident

Shortly before 4 a.m. the alarm center was notified of an accident which occurred in Saku, about 20 km south of central Tallinn. A driver had left the road and hit the supporting pillars of an under-construction bridge.

The driver, reportedly a 43-year-old Ukrainian citizen, died at the scene.

Again, the driver's speed may have exceeded the limit – temporarily set at 50 km/h due to the road-works – and had not been wearing a seatbelt, the PPA reports.

Wearing a seatbelt could potentially have saved the driver's life, the PPA says.

The bridge structural integrity has been damaged as a result of the accident and that section of road, the Saku ring road running under the viaduct there, is currently closed.

A total of 29 people have lost their lives in road traffic accidents this year to date, one more than at the same time in 2019.

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