PICS: Driver injured after driving into sinkhole with no barriers around it

A motorist was injured after driving into a wide sinkhole between Delmas road (provincial road R50) and Pretoria, near Bapsfontein, due to a lack of standing barriers on Sunday.

This was according to paramedics who responded to the accident at around 11am.

The sinkhole was first reported in 2019, and the Department of Roads and Transport closed the road to ensure the safety of motorists and advised that alternative roads should be used.

Two years later, after the closure of the road, a motorist drove into the sinkhole.

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Emer-G-Med spokesperson Kyle van Reenen said there were no standing barriers around the wide sinkhole to warn drivers of the possible danger.

“The cause of the last accident we attended to was the driver did not know there was a sinkhole due to the barrier being removed,” Van Reenen said.

Photos from the accidents show some of the barriers were inside the sinkhole.

After this accident, some residents took to social media to warn motorists of the sinkhole. A few motorists also said that they had accidents at the same sinkhole.

In October 2019, the roads and transport department announced the closure of the road due to the sinkhole.

It said engineers would conduct studies for a sustainable solution, but no date was set for repairing the road.

Motorists in and around the area were advised to make use of a detour route D781, which is a gravel route linking the R50 road to the R25 route.

The department was yet to comment on the matter.

Tshwane metro spokesperson Lindela Mashigo said the provincial road was the responsibility of the provincial government and not the municipality.

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This article first appeared on Caxton publication Pretoria Rekord. Read the original article here.

By Odette Venter