No consequences for speedsters

MOSES Kotane (Sparks) Road residents have had enough! After another child was knocked down in the road, residents are demanding authorities take action to slow down speedsters and that drivers responsible are convicted.

According to residents, at around 12.30pm on Friday, 30 June, a child was knocked over by a vehicle they say was speeding. The incident follows close on the heels of the death of a seven-year-old child who was killed after being hit by a vehicle along the same stretch of road.

Resident, Nola Petersen, said following the accident where the young boy was killed, residents had taken to the street with placards, urging people to slow down when driving in the road.

“We stood in the road from 6am with placards, and people did slow down, but when we stopped, motorists started speeding again. People fly down this road and when cars park on the pavement outside our homes, we can’t see cars coming down the road. The community really needs to come together and work for something to be done to stop this,” she said.

For Nola, the cause is intensely personal. Her daughter died in hospital in 1994 after being knocked over by a car outside her home. Nola said 15 years ago she had put together a petition for speed calming in the road, however nothing came of it. She said a student from America had also been knocked over three years ago and had died instantly.

“We never heard what became of the woman who knocked over the seven-year-old boy. These people are supposed to be arrested immediately for culpable homicide, the evidence is there on scene, but we don’t hear any more,” she said.

Resident, Carl Thompson, said the community was angry, but that they needed to unite. “This has been a problem for so many years. We need speed calming in the road to slow people down. If you are going 60km you are able to brake in time. There should also be a pedestrian crossing for school children,” he said.

Lenise Albertyn, another resident who lives on Moses Kotane Road said she had heard Florida Road had the same classification as Moses Kotane Road, and speed bumps had recently been installed in that road. “There have been many accidents in Florida Road, but there haven't been as many deaths as in Moses Kotane Road. We want to know why speed calming can’t be installed here. Nearly all the houses along this stretch of road have had cars ploughing into their front gardens as motorists underestimate the bend. I won’t let my children walk in the road,” she said.

Lenise’s sister, Lisa Ramjoo who lives in Johannesburg, said around 90 per cent of the times she had isited her sister and mum, Cheryl van Wyk, an accident had occurred outside their home.

“It is traumatic that the youth living in this road see death all the time because of these accidents. They are becoming desensitised to death, which is wrong, it is not the norm,” she said.

Cheryl van Wyk said 100 residents attended a recent meeting hosted by ward 31 councillor, Chris Pappas, to discuss the issue of speed calming on the road.

“Not enough residents from Moses Kotane Road attended the meeting. It is not right, there are too many deaths on the road. Police were trapping in the road recently and 75 people were fined in one day. Surely this shows something needs to be done,” she said.

Jeanette Wybrow, another resident, said it was sad that a child had been killed on the road and nothing more had been mentioned of the incident.

“I took the family to the mortuary, the police did nothing to help them. It’s really bad as we depend on them. All the family managed to get was a case number, as the police wouldn’t give them the details of the woman who knocked their child over. A scholar patrol needs to be put in place, we have to keep on going until something is done,” she said.

Ward councillor, Chris Pappas, said he was concerned that over the years a number of people had been killed on Moses Kotane Road but no one had been convicted for any of these cases.

“Again on Friday I was told that an accident occurred and the people who caused the accident were let go without any consequences,” he said.

Pappas said he had contacted Sydenham SAPS to verify these claims and to find out why no one had been held accountable for the deaths on Moses Kotane Road.

“I have asked the police what the progress is with the case against the woman who killed the seven-year-old child last month. We hope that the police are treating these cases seriously, as all the evidence needed for convictions is available on scene every time a person is killed,” he said.