Accidents along Springs Road in Rand Collieries continue to be a source of frustration for residents.
In 2022, countless crashes occurred at the intersection between Springs and Colliery roads. In addition, there were six incidents of vehicles driving through walls along Springs Road.
Three of these incidents involved the same wall. There were also one into a neighbouring wall and two involving the Arion Equestrian Centre fence.
The Arion incidents occurred in May and on the night of November 15. The latest of three incidents for one plot occurred on November 7, when a truck collided with the wall.
Another incident at the same plot, also involving a truck, occurred on February 2. This, and one other incident of a bakkie flipping and crashing through another wall on an early June morning, spells a dangerous trend.
Motorists, despite warnings before the turn to slow down, tend to speed on that strip of road. That, coupled with the robot around the turn, leads to numerous accidents and property damage when vehicles are speeding around the corner and suddenly have to stop at the robot.
READ MORE: Ekurhuleni launches road safety campaign
It is a repeating pattern that leads to much annoyance and trouble for residents along the road. The equestrian centre also experienced an incident two years ago where three vehicles drove through their wall in one night.
Louise Botha (32), the owner of the grounds on which the equestrian centre is located, said that it becomes too expensive to fix if it happens so frequently.
“Often the perpetrators drive off after the crash and there is no way to make contact with them to hold them liable.”
The owner of the plot where three vehicles drove through the wall this year said, “The street lights don’t work. There are no warning signs to indicate a turn and that the traffic light is ahead.
“There is not enough warning to slow down and the lines on the road are too dull. New lines, reflectors and street lights will already help a ton,” he said.
The neighbour who suffered damages to their wall when a bakkie rolled through it says this is the fourth time something like this has happened since they lived there. Comment has been requested from the City of Ekurhuleni but had not been received at the time of publication.
READ MORE: Ondersteun geselligheid om viervoetiges te help
