Dangers on the Stratford Farm road
Sir,A number of dangers await road users on the Dundee-Helpmekaar road, past the Sithole settlement. A large number of serious accidents have occurred on this road in the past, and there will be a lot more unless something serious is done to solve the problem. Taxis and other vehicles that pick up and drop off …
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Sir,
A number of dangers await road users on the Dundee-Helpmekaar road, past the Sithole settlement. A large number of serious accidents have occurred on this road in the past, and there will be a lot more unless something serious is done to solve the problem. Taxis and other vehicles that pick up and drop off passengers travel at very low speeds on the side of the road, and they don’t leave enough space for vehicles to overtake them. When an oncoming vehicle approaches, one has to almost come to a standstill in order to overtake the slow-moving vehicle. One dreads to think what will happen when a heavy vehicle that can’t stop in a short distance finds itself in this situation. Taxis and other vehicles transporting passengers just switch on their hazard lights and think they can do anything they want.Â
They also have no respect for the other road users, and never consider thinking of how they are disrupting the flow of traffic. Could we please establish official drop-off and pick-up zones, and have these zones policed by RTI officials? Children walking to and from school walk on the side of the road, putting their lives at risk. Couldn’t the department make a proper cement walkway in order to protect the children, making it safer to walk alongside the road? Another alternative would be to move the school from Tangeni to a more central location. The statements made in the past by Nkosi Sithole, when investigating these plans, don’t make sense at all. He commented that his land is agricultural land, and there is no place for a school (what a joke)! Livestock such as cattle, goats and sheep stray along the road the whole day, making it very dangerous to travel this road at night. Fences alongside the road have been removed and re-used for other purposes.
Surely if people keep animals, it is their responsibility to have proper camps allocated to do this in? The people who call themselves farmers need to take responsibility for their animals and need to have proper fences in order to have control over their animals at all times. A big thank you to Warrant Officer Jakes Juggen, who tries to keep these animals off the road and impound them. Soon, more speed bumps will be added and new speed limits will be imposed. We must solve the problem and not treat the symptoms. Surely not everybody can have an access road onto the main road.Â
All stakeholders should take responsibility to make the road safer for all users.
Concerned Road User