THIS past weekend, 12 police officers were injured when the vehicle they were in veered off the road on the M1 Richmond Road in Mariannhill just after 6.15am, another accident that raised a red flag on the nature of road accidents in the Highway area.
According to Rescue Care, the vehicle was found against an embankment and events leading up to the crash are unknown.
The Highway Mail receives daily reports on road accidents as they happen and has been shocked at the recent large numbers accidents that occur in broad daylight, mostly with clear skies, with no obvious cause, weeks before the silly season begins.
Also read:Accidents cause chaos on Pinetown roads
According to Blue Security community and media liaison officer, Andreas Mathios, the road is full of undisciplined people.
“South Africans have adopted a culture of being undisciplined especially towards the end of the year, drivers take chances, move from one lane to another with little consideration for other motorists,” he said.
Mathios said one of the biggest contributions to accidents is the lack of respect motorists have for each other and added people don’t pay traffic fines which shows drivers lack a sense of accountability.
Chairman of the Motor Industry Workshop Association (MIWA), Dewald Ranf, said motorists should always respect the road rules.
“While it can be frustrating to be stuck behind a truck, respect the road rules and only overtake when it is appropriate. Give a truck room to manoeuvre and keep a safe following distance. We all need to do what we can to reduce accidents on our roads during this season with the increased volume of traffic on our roads,” he said.
Another interesting factor to bear in mind regarding causes of road accidents is hay fever.
According to Hannes Smith, Head Personal Lines Sales and Operations, at Old Mutual Insure, “Every year there are thousands of accidents attributed to sneezing drivers and it is highly likely that these types of accidents will only increase as allergen levels continue to rise,” he said.
He pointed out that a single sneeze can force the average person to blink for between 0.3 and 0.7 seconds.
“If you are driving at 60km/h, you could travel up to 10m with your eyes clamped shut if you sneeze just once. That isn’t considering the fact that many people also lose their fine motor control skills in that instant, or that many hay fever sufferers are prone to fits of three or four consecutive sneezes. It gets even scarier if you are travelling on the highway, because you could essentially lose control of your vehicle for stretches of up to 20m every time a sneeze happens.”
The other problem is, of course, motorists busy on their cellphones, and worse, texting while driving. It only takes seconds for an accident to occur.
Finally, drinking and driving is simply not an option to entertain, and residents are urged to make alternate plans to get to and from events and Christmas parties.
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