Cutting-edge technology to help reduce accidents to be installed along the N1 between Modimolle and Kranskop – SANRAL
This follows several horrific crashes which have claimed over 50 lives in the past few months.
LIMPOPO – The infrastructure, designed to improve the safety of road users near the Kranskop Toll Plaza in Modimolle, includes the installation of gantries, cameras and message boards to monitor speed on critical sections, reads a statement from SANRAL.
“These are urgent steps to improve safety, influence driver behaviour and strengthen law enforcement on a section of the freeway which has seen horrific crashes in recent months. One such accident happened in September after a tyre burst on a truck carrying cement which caused the driver to lose control and collide with four other vehicles including a 22-seater bus. The crash claimed the lives of 27 people including two young children,” said Progress Hlahla, the Regional Manager for SANRAL’s Northern Region.
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SNARAL immediately launched an investigation into steps to be taken to make the road safer and to add infrastructure that encourages good driver behaviour. “We found that speed is a major concern and worked closely with the Limpopo province and local law enforcement to find ways to identify unsafe behaviour and apprehend offenders.”
The N1 between Pretoria and the border with Zimbabwe is one of the busiest freeways in the country and traffic volumes rise sharply at the start of the December holidays and close to the festive season.
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These measures will include the following:
The installation of four gantries equipped with sophisticated camera and monitoring technology. The system uses average-speed-over-distance (ASOD) technology which calculates the average speed of a vehicle, measured from the time it passes a camera, until it reaches a second camera at a fixed distance away.
The cameras are carefully calibrated, and the technology can recognise the vehicle’s number plate. Time-stamped pictures are taken at both locations. Should the vehicle pass by the second camera in a shorter time than what it should given the speed limit, it indicates that the driver was speeding.
ASOD technology is already used with great success by Sanral on freeways in the Western Cape where there has been a marked reduction in the crash rate. Visible ASOD signs warn road users that they are about to enter a monitored stretch of road and also carries messages that encourage safe and sensible behaviour, Hlahla added.
“ASOD is leading-edge technology which supports the global objective to cut down on road deaths through the provision of safer road infrastructure greater awareness about road safety. The system is being installed during the festive season with the introduction of more cameras and message boards to manage the peak traffic surges at the start of the new year.”
Sanral is also providing training for law enforcement officials responsible for the monitoring of the freeway, he concluded.
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