Toll operators must act following a deadly N1 highway collision

Reactions to the horrific collision on the N1 highway in Limpopo on Tuesday, which claimed 17 lives, will probably ignore the elephant in the room – which is that this road is a death trap.

And that is not because it is somehow cursed, or even because the drivers using it are often untrained and have fake licences and are reckless. The latter is part of the problem – but the real reason this stretch is so deadly is because of its design.

Back in the 1990s, when it was built and tolled, the toll companies were allowed to cut corners by not separating it into two distinct carriageways. Then, no dividing barrier was erected.

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The result is that there is no margin for error with two lanes of traffic passing each other at less than a metre apart at closing speeds of 240km/h or more. Road safety expert Dr Lee Randall said this road design is among the most dangerous in the world and told us, some weeks ago, that head-on collisions on that stretch were likely to cause more fatalities.

It is high time that the government forced the toll operators to erect such barriers. Motorists don’t pay toll fees just to die while on their journeys.