NEWCASTLE KZN: Memel resident relates his R34 experiences
"We have a new and even more dangerous adversary to handle on the road of late – the ubiquitous pothole..."
Continued from Page 1 of the Newcastle Advertiser in print
“…The fully-laden taxis and articulated horse-and-trailers hog the white centre line and inhibit the view of the road ahead.
This effectively prevents you from overtaking in a safe manner. Likewise, both parties are inclined to chug up the hills and do not move to the left, so you may get by them in safety.
Of course, do not forget the stray horses and cattle and goats and sheep – which test your navigating skills when you weave your way through the herd.
These are some examples of white knuckle hazards that face us rural drivers, when the head buzzes with nasty thoughts of doing damage to others and quite honestly, your vocabulary festers blue and fetid in your mouth.
However, we have a new and even more dangerous adversary to handle on the road of late – the ubiquitous pothole, not a stranger to any country in the world and in fact occurs wherever wheeled transport flourishes. In South Africa, we have a surfeit of them, as due to lack of funds, the pothole starts small and without proper and immediate care, degenerates at an alarming rate into a small donga.
It gives the impression that little hobgoblins come out at night with wee spades and shovels, bent on wreaking havoc on our part of the road in retaliation for us treating them with contempt!
Travelling the Memel to Newcastle stretch of the R34 is as tactically demanding as driving the Dakar, as deft control of the car must be maintained while swerving around the cavernous collapsed parts of the tarmac, while hoping you may cross to the other side of the road, if necessary, without being confronted by a speeding vehicle coming from the front.
A mental spatial map of each pothole or ditch is created of the other side of the road, for your return journey, and you pray the mighty eighteen-wheelers do not rip up a new section of tar before you drive back.
Most notably, these road conditions are potentially deadly as bursting a tyre is a possibility, as well as the chance of losing control and your vehicle then leaving the road.
I have had discussion with motorists who negotiate the worst parts of this obstacle course with their car in first gear!
Please note, in the past the only real road danger here was by accident, tumbling down the mountain at Botha’s Pass – but that pales in comparison to the real and present danger of the curse of the pothole.
I understand car license fees were directed to a fund dedicated to road maintenance. Has something changed in this regard, because the state of provincial roads leaves a lot to be desired, and we are just lucky that more lives are not lost due to this appalling situation?”
Read the full story on the R34 Memel road on the front page of this week’s edition (February 26).
RELATED STORY: R34 has motorists ‘at the edge of their seats’
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