The victim, Cristeen Stephens contacted The Advertiser on Wednesday after reading the article a young Paxton woman whose car was hit by a missile at about 10pm on Saturday night, November 14.

Ms. Stephens estimates that she was travelling through The Pinch about 10 minutes later when she swerved to miss two young men standing in the middle of the road.

Moments later, one of her tyres blew out.

“I didn’t see anything on the road because I was too busy swerving to miss them (the men),” Ms. Stephens said.

Concerned for her safety, with no mobile phone service and in the dark of night, Ms. Stephens chose to drive on a flat tyre to her daughter’s house at Paxton, rather than pull over or drive all the way home to Laguna.

Ms. Stephens said she reported the incident to Cessnock Police and was advised to complete a malicious damage report. She was unsure if further investigations will be carried out.

She said that while a new tyre will set her back $700, it is the safety aspect that is more important to her considering how often she travels the road at night.

Ms. Stephens works at a Newcastle hotel, as does her daughter, and they travel through The Pinch anywhere between 10pm and 2am at night.

“I just want to know that I can be safe driving home from Newcastle to Laguna every night,” she said.

The rail overbridge bridge at this location has stood sentinel for something in the order of 80 years. Trains used the bridge, and still do, to haul coal to the Port of Newcastle; in the old days from Pelton Colliery and now for the Austar operation.

The Pinch has been notorious for accidents over the years and there is a story how a double decker bus once lost its roof while trying to get under the bridge. It seems the name The Pinch pointed to the amount difficulty vehicles had gaining momentum to reach the Pelton turn off side.

The recent incidents certainly add to the notoriety of this location.