Carlswald residents are frustrated with the reckless driving on Eastbourne Road
The accident that happened on Eastbourne Road was the final straw for the residents, who were already frustrated with the reckless driving situation.
Carlswald residents are gravely concerned about the reckless driving that has been taking place on Eastbourne Road.
The situation escalated on November 27, when a taxi crashed into a residential complex fence, leaving the residents in shock and dismay.
According to the landlord of the complex, Richard Tenderini, taxis have been using this residential road for the past six years, resulting in several accidents and even animals being run over.
“Eastbourne Road is a bumpy road with heavy ditches, especially after the rain. In the morning, children take their horses for a ride here, and the speeding taxis could startle a horse and cause harm to a child,” Tenderini explained.
This residential gravel road serves as a shortcut around Midway Mews Shops to Vorna Valley, which is often heavily congested in the mornings.
Taxis come from Midway Mews side, cut into Eastbourne, and then turn left into Norfolk Road where there is a blind hill.
They drive on the wrong side of Norfolk, up on the blind hill, to pass the Norfolk traffic queue that joins up with Harry Galaun Drive, which continues to Vorna Valley SPAR, and finally left into Allendale Road.
Tenderini explains that the taxis often drive on the right side of the road up on that blind uphill in front of Dukes Place, putting other drivers in danger.
The incident that occurred on November 27 – leaving some passengers injured – was the boiling point for the residents who had grown tired of the taxis using the road to avoid traffic and the metro police ‘while racing’.
Tenderini recalled, “After the incident, the taxi driver fled the scene, and we discovered that the taxi was not roadworthy as it had no vehicle disks, and the driver could not be tracked. Upon talking to the passengers, we learned that the taxi was speeding and racing with the others until the driver lost control while trying to brake, causing the taxi to swerve and crash.
“This kind of reckless driving can lead to serious accidents, and motorists need to be mindful of their actions on the road. I now had to repair the fence with expenses of over R15 000. The residents of Carlswald are urging the local authorities to take action to prevent such accidents from happening again.”
A resident, whose house was nearly hit by the taxi, described the incident as an unfortunate tragedy. She said it occurred at a time when she would have been jogging on the road.
“For some reason this morning, I decided not to jog so I went back to sleep. I then heard loud screams and the screeching of wheels on the gravel. I got up to look outside and saw two other taxis were speeding off and then heard the loud crash of the third one,” said the resident also requested that her name not be revealed due to safety concerns.
“I was in shock so it took me a while to go outside to the scene. Eventually, I went and there was a lady that had been thrown out of the window and suffered a broken leg. Another lady had jumped out the window a few metres before the taxi crashed and she couldn’t talk. The other people mostly had bruises.”
Superintendent Xolani Fihla, the spokesperson for the Johannesburg Metropolitan Police Department, said the department’s regional office is aware of the accident scene and confirmed that officers did attend to it. He said they are trying to track the driver but without any registrations on the taxi it will be difficult.
However, Fihla said the department has no knowledge of any reckless behaviour occurring on Eastbourne Road.
“The department thanks the community for bringing this to its attention, and necessary measures will be put in place that officers scrutinise the matter and take appropriate action when required.”
The residents concluded that the Gauteng Emergency Management Service (EMS) attended to the scene and transported the injured passengers to the hospital and the taxi was towed away.
Midrand Reporter reached out to EMS spokespersons Xolile Khumalo and Robert Mulaudzi to inquire about the condition of the injured passengers, but both spokespersons stated that it was the provincial EMS that responded to accidents requiring passenger transportation, and therefore, they had no information about the accident.
The paper attempted to contact Tshepo Shawa, the spokesperson for the MEC for Health, regarding the injured passengers but did not receive a response by the time of going to print.
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