Arbour Road lawlessness continues unabated
One would think that our ‘hardworking’ traffic police would have realised by now that these crossings need to be monitored and the motorists breaking the law with such impunity should be heavily fined without exception.
EDITOR – I respond to letters in the last two editions regarding Arbour Road crossings.
From the stop streets in front of Galleria right up to Arbour Centre, all crossings are completely ignored by a very large percentage of motorists.
Trying to get into Abour Road from either shopping centre is almost like playing dodgems. One would think that our ‘hardworking’ traffic police would have realised by now that these crossings need to be monitored and the motorists breaking the law with such impunity should be heavily fined without exception.
One would also have thought that local powers would have cottoned on that these crossings present a golden opportunity to fill municipal coffers.
I have absolutely no doubt that the salaries of any number of officers monitoring these crossings for two or three days per week will be more than covered by the number of fines that can be issued, yet the lawlessness continues unabated and uncared about by authorities. Not only is there the question of danger to law-abiding motorists, but there is also the potential for road-rage incidents, as I myself have on a number of occasions felt like pulling one of these inconsiderate lawbreakers from their vehicles and beating them to a pulp.
I urge local citizens to keep on writing to you, and request that the Sun contacts the traffic authorities and find out why, despite so many complaints, they seem to keep completely ignoring the problem.
ENRICO DU PLESSIS
Ed’s note: In fairness, Metro Police has from time to time carried out enforcement operations along Arbour Road.
While these may be too infrequent, they’re also hamstrung by a lack of resources when it is understood that the majority of their vehicles and manpower is deployed to Prospecton during the working week morning and afternoon peak rush hour to attend to pedestrian and vehicle traffic related to the car manufacturer plant. The Sun has queried the matter of ongoing enforcement with Metro Police, and awaits further word on the matter.
However, the problem and the solution really lies with motorists themselves. Why is there a sense of lawlessness on this particular stretch of road? While motorists generally push boundaries everywhere, the problem on Arbour Road seems more pronounced, with a particular disregard for the stop streets that dot the stretch between Makro and Arbour Crossing. Would the installation of traffic circles instead of four-way stops be a solution, as motorists seem particularly impatient about stopping at an intersection when there’s no-one else using it?
