Tom Hollett calls for safety improvements on Pitts Memorial Drive

The owner of Jiffy Cabs in St. John's says it's about time guard rails were extended on Pitts Memorial Drive to avoid further fatal accidents. 

Brendan Lawlor, 21, was killed when his car went over an embankment from Pitts Memorial Drive and landed nose-first on Richard Nolan Drive April 8.

A Jiffy Cab driver was involved in an accident similar to Lawlor's in early February when his taxi dropped to the street below and caught fire.

I'd rather hit a concrete barricade than go over that embankment- Tom Hollett, owner of Jiffy Cabs

Jiffy owner Tom Hollett said the driver survived the drop under the overpass, but is still recovering from the crash.

"It wasn't minor injuries," Hollett told The St. John's Morning Show. "The young fellow is still in hospital and it's life-altering injuries." 

Hollett pointed to an accident 10 years ago, which claimed the lives of Johanna Noseworthy and her grandmother Alice Noseworthy.

In that crash, the Noseworthy's went over an opening on the Trans-Canada Highway near the Kenmount Road turnoff.

Hollett said no more lives should be lost and is calling on the provincial government to block the opening to the embankment.

Guard rails need to be extended now, Hollett says

"After the accident the driver with Jiffy Cabs had, I went out and back-and-forth and back-and-forth and just looked at it," he said.

"I'm not an engineer but I'm a common sense guy. As far as I'm concerned there's a chutey-chute there."

Hollett said the existing guard rails need to be extended by 50 to 100 feet and curved in so drivers can't go down the embankment. 

"If you're an innocent victim of that craziness and you get pushed into that median there's no reason you should be ten feet away from a drop that's going to kill you," he said. 

"I'd rather hit a concrete barricade than go over that embankment."

CBC News has called the Transportation and Works department for comment. So far, it hasn't responded to the request.