Truck clampdown steps up a notch
There are about 500 to 600 trucks daily around Vryheid and some of the truck drivers want to rest after making their deliveries. The other officer and I are up all night pushing trucks off the streets, especially Church and Utrecht Street, where the truck drivers park. This is beyond our measures, as this is a government problem.''
The authorities are stepping up the clampdown to keep heavy vehicles out of Vryheid.
This comes after the accident near Pongola that claimed 20 lives on September 16.
The aftermath of the crash saw the Pongola community taking a stand against the influx of trucks using the N2 through town. Truck drivers had to make use of alternative routes and one of the routes is through Vryheid.
Vryheid RTI commented that they are intensifying HMV (heavy motor vehicle) enforcement and are monitoring trucks on a daily basis. Trucks are still seen on the bypass from Lakeside Crossing to the Junction, and in residential streets around town.
Two officers (from Public Safety and the SAPS) have voluntarily taken the initiative to ‘push’ trucks out of the streets of Vryheid to protect the infrastructure. One of the officers mentioned that ’right now, trucks are a pandemic in Vryheid’. He says that trucks come in high volumes every day.
“There are about 500 to 600 trucks daily around Vryheid and some of the truck drivers want to rest after making their deliveries. The other officer and I are up all night pushing trucks off the streets, especially Church and Utrecht Street, where the truck drivers park. This is beyond our measures, as this is a government problem – government needs to deploy more officers on the roads to inspect and use speed timing.”
The officers suggest that the community should employ the same method they used when there was unrest and looting in July last year, where community members blocked protesters from entering Vryheid town. They say it will be best if the trucks are blocked in order to protect the roads and other infrastructure of Vryheid. They plead with other law enforcement agencies to come together and tackle the problematic issue of trucks.
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