Various residents have come forward and spoken to Newcastillian News seeking measures to curb the highly problematic and dangerous roads, Victoria Road and Drakensberg Drive, which note multiple accidents weekly.
In addition to residents’ concerns, Charles Steyn of Magenta Emergency Medical Services explained that paramedics respond to two to three collisions along these two roads every week.
“It is a serious problem, especially as the majority of the incidents are high speed crashes,” explained Steyn.
Ziyaad Warasally of ER24 concurred with Steyn’s assessment, noting the significant amount of incidents. “People don’t respect the road laws, and we don’t see courtesy between drivers at intersections or traffic lights anymore. Everyone seems to be in a rush,” Warasally remarked.
He further noted that the issue was predominately problematic on Victoria Road. “I don’t know if it is because the road is long and straight, but people travel at high speeds on Victoria.”
With emergency personnel frequently attending incidents on these roads, both Steyn and Warasally stressed the urgent need for preventive measures to curb the number of collisions and put forward a few ideas on the subject.
Warasally explained that he felt two options would work. “Speedbumps would be a good deterrent to help break motorists’ speed on the two roads. I also feel that setting up CCTV cameras to monitor the traffic would work, as this would allow officials to see who was responsible for breaking traffic laws and highlight the person responsible for a collision.”
Additionally, Steyn explained that the erection of speedbumps would hamper the response time of emergency personnel in times of need. However, he too felt that cameras would work exceptionally well in bringing perpetrators to book.
“The cameras can be erected at the intersections, with the monitors set up at the traffic officers’ control room. This would allow them to monitor the roads, fine people who broke the law and determine if there was a serious collision as it happened and respond accordingly. The money from the fines can then be put to use in town,” he added.
Furthermore, New City Newcastle’s Gustav van der Linde emphasised that he felt speedbumps would work perfectly along the two roads.
“Putting up four speedbumps on all four sides, 100 meters away from the intersection, will work as it will force drivers to slow down. This was brought forward at a recent Ward committee meeting, but residents were told speedbumps would hamper the response time of the fire truck if there was a fire or emergency. But putting the speedbumps 100 metres away from the intersection would only slow down the fire truck by four seconds,” stated van der Linde.
He stressed that these four seconds were not much, especially when looking at the multiple collisions taking place weekly. According to van der Linde, the number of people injured due to collisions, and the potential fatalities arising from these crashes outranked the number of injuries and fatalities resulting from fire.
Looking for direction on the matter, Newcastillian News spoke with the Newcastle Municipality about the problematic roads and the solutions to remedy this pressing issue.
Responding, the Newcastle Municipality’s Communications Unit explained that the Municipality provided regular law enforcement through its traffic officials. However, the Unit could not elaborate on how the traffic officials provided regular law enforcement along the problematic roads.
Nevertheless, the Communications Unit agreed with the paramedics regarding the cause of the collisions along the road. “One of the causes of collisions is reckless driving by local road users, who are not adhering to traffic lights and stop signs which are clearly marked,” said the Communications Unit.
When looking at potentially erecting speedbumps to curb collisions along Victoria Road and Drakensberg Drive, the Communications Unit explained, “There are regulations set for the erection of speedbumps with certain specifications. The roads in question fall under category 3 which allows specific speed calming devices and the Municipality will have to budget for those speed calming devices after consultation with the public.”
However, it is unclear when this will happen.
When questioned about Ziyaad Warasally and Charles Steyn’s suggestion of erecting cameras to be used to monitor the problem and bring perpetrators to book, the Communications Unit stated, “The Municipality is in the process of procuring more equipment to assist in monitoring and issuing of traffic fines to those who are violating traffic laws.”
However, the Communications Unit could not elaborate on what this entailed, and when it would happen. In the interim, emergency personnel are urging motorists to adhere to the traffic lights to safeguard their lives, and the lives of others.
Due to the high number of collisions and infringements along the two roads, what are your thoughts? What do you think needs to be done to curb collisions and traffic violations on Victoria Road and Drakensberg Drive?
We invite readers to share their thoughts and suggestions in the comment section below to contribute to the ongoing dialogue about improving road safety in Newcastle.
One Response
Change the crossings to traffic circles. They are much more effective and efficient than 4-way crossings.