UMHLANGA ward councillor, Heinz de Boer, has expressed his concern over the number of accidents and deaths on the N2 highway, particularly between the Queen Nandi Drive and KwaMashu on and off-ramps. Since May, seven people have been killed on this particular stretch of road, while more than 20 people have been injured in the mayhem. In three of the four accidents, heavy goods vehicles were involved.
Last week four people were killed in a collision involving two heavy goods vehicles, one of which was a concrete mixer, and multiple light motor vehicles just under the bridge running across Queen Nandi Drive last Monday.
Paramedics arrived on scene to find absolute mayhem with the driver of one of the trucks having sustained serious injuries and in a state of cardiac arrest. The traffic also created a huge traffic backlog, with some motorists reportedly switching off their engines while waiting to get through.
De Boer said the stretch of road had been a concern for many years but had recently been exacerbated by reckless driving.
“From what I’ve seen personally driving this stretch of road is there are a variety of causes for the accidents, one of which is motorists driving recklessly. For me there is no such thing as an accident, it’s either down to a car fault or the fault lies with the driver. I have approached our member of provincial legislature, with the proposal to upgrade and widen the road,” he said.
While many residents have laid the blame on faulty trucks, De Boer acknowledges more needs to be done to see if trucks are roadworthy.
“What we’ve seen in recent years is an increase in heavy goods vehicles, because of the decline of our rail system. Now there are more truck operators on the roads but we cannot simply ban them from using the highways. I do feel that trucks, as well as cars, need to be regularly tested and checked. But that comes down to law enforcement. The Road Traffic Inspectorate (RTI) does a number of stops further north, but I feel this would also help curb future accidents. There is no place for unroadworthy vehicles on the country’s roads,” he said.
Attempts to get hold of the RTI spokesperson, Zinhle Mngomezulu, were unsuccessful.
