A WHATSAPP group has been created for residents and driving schools around New Germany and Pinetown to address the traffic and delays that are caused by the driving school learner cars and trucks especially during peak hours. A meeting, which was held to discuss these issues on Saturday, was attended by few of the residents but most of the driving school owners in the area were present.
The meeting was organised by a resident, Lisa van Zyl who also owns a driving school, Lisa’s Driving School. She said she arranged the meeting after receiving many complaints from residents, especially in Tracey Watts, Padfield, Manors and Glenuige roads.
“According to residents, they battle to get to work in the morning and to get to their home in the evening because of traffic caused by the learner drivers in cars and trucks. This Whatsapp group will allow residents to send their queries and complaints,” she said.
One of the residents, Marius Greyling, said the problem is during the peak hours in the mornings and afternoons. “We get delayed because of the learner trucks in front of you which cause a lot of traffic.”
“The meeting was constructive as the driving schools agreed to not teach new drivers during the peak hours, 6.30am to 8.30am and between 4pm to 5.30pm.
“There was also talk of speaking to the eThekwini council about providing a land or an area away from the busy roads to teach new learner drivers,” he said.
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Rockwell Nzama, owner of Rockwell Nzama Drivers Training said they are willing to work together with residents to find a solution.
Nzama said he understood that sometimes following a learner driver could be frustrating.
“But what I ask is for tolerance, most of our clients either resides around here or work here which makes it convenient for us and them to use these roads. I am sure every driver has been a learner at some stage and they know how nerve-wrecking it can be with the car stalling and switching off while there is another car or cars behind you,” he said.
“Driving school cars are not a major problem here, there are also taxis who use these roads as a short cut to avoid traffic from the Pinetown CBD.”
Nzama added that residents can report instructors who break laws while driving.
“Instructors who chat on the phone while they are teaching a learner or pull their seats back should be reported through this Whatsapp group,” said Nzama.
The WhatsApp number has been shared among local residents.
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