Petition intends to make R40 safer with traffic-calming measures
The junction where the R40 meets the R538 has long been known as a hazardous spot, but two recent truck accidents, one fatal, have again highlighted the issue.
HAZYVIEW- A number of concerned citizens made their voices heard when they called on government to urgently consider the implementation of a heavy vehicle runaway sandpit to be built at the intersection of the R40 and R538, known as De Rust, in Hazyview.
“There is a necessity for high-mass vehicles to slow down long before they enter Hazyview by means of the R40,” said Ken Robertson of the FF Plus. He said too many accidents have occurred as a result of trucks that fail to brake or slow down in time.
The two recent accidents were single-vehicle ones. Two trucks, one towing a superlink trailer, were going too fast to safely negotiate the left-turn slipway heading towards town. If one of the trucks had hit another vehicle, the effects would have been even more disastrous.
Also, both trucks were turning left. If a truck goes too fast to stop at the junction before turning right onto the R538, it would most likely continue across the road, possibly hitting other vehicles in the intersection. Robertson said the party is proposing a compulsory stop for heavy vehicles close to the entrance of Umbhaba Estates’ packhouse on the R40. Hazyview Herald visited the site and this proposal makes sense. Umbhaba is situated at the last piece of level road before it slants down towards the junction. If heavy vehicles are forced to come to a complete stop at the top and then to proceed in a low enough gear, it would significantly reduce the risk of an accident at the junction.
During the visit it was also clear that heavy vehicles generally ignored the speed limit of 80 kilometres per hour that then reduces to 60 kilometres per hour. Robertson said the party wants a gravel trap at the junction to catch runaway heavy vehicles. “We also request a speed restriction of 60 kilometres per hour for all heavy vehicles from this same point,” he said.
“We have started an online petition and invite citizens to show their concern by signing it, so that we may present it to the roads department to bring about the traffic-calming measures.”
The petition is already available online at vfplus.nationbuilder.com/petisie_hazyview, but at the time of going to press had only received about 190 signatures.
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