COSTLY FALLOUT OF CRASH CHAOS ON N1

Driver remains unconscious

THE CRASH on the N1 that brought Cape Town to a standstill last week is estimated to have cost commuters as much as R36 million as they were forced to wait in gridlocked traffic – missing flights, meetings and appointments.

PICTURE: JASON BOUDROAD CLOSED A truck lost a 12-ton barge when it struck a bridge on the N1 outbound near Paarden Eiland last Tuesday. The barge landed on a Nissan bakkie, which was behind the truck

During a debriefing on the incident at the Traffic Management Centre in Goodwood yesterday, incident co-ordinator Dale Hillebrand reconstructed the minutes after a 12- ton barge fell off a truck and crushed a bakkie on Table Bay Boulevard last Tuesday.

The driver of the bakkie, Scott Gonzalez, 51, is still unconscious in Groote Schuur Hospital.

A hospital spokesman said his condition was stable.

Hillebrand said the heavy load slid off the back of the truck at 2.28pm after clipping a section of the Lower Church Street bridge over the N1.

The freeway’s five outbound lanes were quickly closed off and authorities began diverting rush-hour traffic exiting the CBD.

As rescue personnel tried to free Gonzalez from his vehicle, commuters found themselves stuck in standstill traffic in some cases for hours as they sought alternative routes out of the city.

The N1 was closed for three hours.

Hillebrand insisted authorities had dealt with the situation quickly and efficiently, but he did not downplay the impact the crash had on Cape Town’s transport infrastructure.

“As a rule of thumb, we can work out that the accident cost commuters between R10m to R1m an hour.”

He said the crash had caused “chaos” in the city, with normal traffic flow resuming only four hours later.

Hillebrand said all five lanes were closed to create space for the cranes to lift the barge from the bakkie.

The city’s mayoral committee member for safety and security JP Smith, said the crash and clearing of the wreckage will cost the council R30 000.

“In total, the direct charges – for the damage to bridge and calling out EMS personnel – will amount to R100 000.”

Smith said the truck company, Crescendo Trucking, of Saldanha, would have to foot the bill because the driver had been travelling in contravention of his permit.

“It was an inexperienced driver, who did not know what he was doing. He should not have been on that route.”

In the end, it was just a 10cm difference that plunged the city into chaos, as the height of the truck’s load exceeded that of the bridge.

But despite widespread criticism of how the city handled the crash, Smith said he was happy with how emergency services and authorities had reacted.

“I don’t think it could have been any quicker,” he said.

However, the city was looking at a range of possible improvements in its handling of big collisions.

These would include the provision of more traffic cones for officials, public education on alternate routes, using variable message signs to give better guidance on alternative routes and accidents; and the acquisition of an additional heavy tow-truck.

“I have told all those involved in the operation give it a rating out of 10. I would suggest an eight or a nine,” said Smith.

'We'll take away your car!' - cops

October 23 2013 at 08:41am
By Kieran Legg

Comment on this story

---

David Ritchie

Transport and public works MEC Robin Carlisle speaks to the driver of a car that was pulled over for speeding at an average of 131km/h in a 120km/h zone. The driver was later arrested after blowing over the limit on a breathalyser.

Related Stories

• New average-speed cameras guard R27
• 'Put on your number plate or walk'

Drivers who flout the rules of the road could soon get the “cellphone treatment” as Western Cape provincial traffic services review the possibility of confiscating vehicles for anything from driving without a licence to speeding.

This follows the introduction of regulations that enable traffic officials to “discontinue” cars found being driven without number plates.

Coupled with the confiscation of cellphones from drivers found chatting at the wheel, this represents the latest in a series of regulations as part of the provincial transport department’s new “no nonsense” approach.

For transport and public works MEC Robin Carlisle the impounding of cars is a logical and appropriate punishment for traffic offenders.

He said the current fine system was too lenient and did little to discourage drivers from speeding or disobeying traffic laws.

“What’s a R250 speeding fine to someone in a R300 000 car? Nothing, they just don’t care.”

This car was fined for an expired licence disc. Picture: Armand Hough

INLSA

Last weekend traffic authorities prosecuted more than 1600 motorists for driving over the speed limit in the Western Cape. Provincial traffic chief Kenny Africa said one had been caught driving at 185km/h in a 120km/h zone.

Carlisle said: “It’s frustrating, and it’s all too common. You can clearly see that something needs to be done.”

He said the confiscation of cellphones had proved effective.

“While the evidence isn’t exactly empirical, traffic officials are telling me they pull over far fewer drivers for talking on their phones.”

It is this same system Carlisle hopes to extend to vehicles belonging to traffic offenders.

“Give someone a fine and they wave it off,” he said.

A motorist is photographed driving in the city in a vehicle without number plates. Picture: Armand Hough

INLSA

Take away their car, and you will see them start hurting.”

The details of how the impounding will work have not been ironed out yet. A team was looking at where there was legal legroom to extend impounding to vehicles outside the public transport and business sector.

Carlisle remained positive that a new set of regulations would be introduced soon.

As it stands, under the Road Traffic Act 93 of 96 private vehicles may be impounded for:

A parking offence causing obstruction.

Any vehicle deemed to be abandoned on a public road.

A motorist has her cellphone confiscated during a cellphone confiscation operation. Picture: David Ritchie

INLSA

A vehicle not displaying any form of identification.

Buses and taxis can also be impounded for not having a permit or operating contrary to a permit.

Carlisle was adamant that there was legal room to broaden the grounds for impoundment.

He said the aim would be to confiscate cars for up to a week, depending on the nature of the offence, which could include:

Driving without a valid licence.

Driving an unlicensed or unregistered vehicle.

Driving a car that was not roadworthy.

Excessive speeding.

“The new regulations should be up for public participation by November at the earliest, but it could be pushed up until February,” said Carlisle.

MAKING SPACE

The city and provincial traffic services are in the process of establishing 10 new pounds across the Western Cape over the next three years.

Carlisle said despite the shortage of pounds, there would always be space to expand and cope with the demands of the new regulations.

The city’s mayoral committee member for safety and security, JP Smith, said impounding was the only way to ensure that offenders were forced to face up to their transgressions, and pay to reclaim their vehicles from the pound instead of just evading fines.

“We have seen minibus taxis routinely ignoring traffic fines and evading paying them.”

“We have also seen a steady increase of unlicensed drivers and unlicensed vehicles because the criminal justice system is simply not effectively bringing people to book once they have received a traffic fine for these offences.”

Automobile Association spokesman Graeme Scala supported the idea of stricter punishment for errant motorists, saying the current fine system merely turned speeding drivers into “revenue generators rather than improving road safety”.

But he said the new regulations would mean nothing without proper enforcement.

“We’ve seen it time and time again: these new traffic regulations are introduced and then nothing happens.

They must be visibly policed for more than just a month; it needs to happen year round. Otherwise it’s just talk.”

He said confiscating vehicles would take far more man hours than retroactively issuing traffic fines.

“Without a doubt, this type of regulation would improve the safety for motorists on our roads. I think that if they are introduced, what we will see is drivers completely re-evaluating the way they drive.”

ZERO TOLERANCE IN IN CANADA, DOWN UNDER

The Western Cape government is not the first to consider a zero-tolerance approach to speeders.

Since 2010, traffic authorities in British Columbia, Canada, have been allowed to impound cars belonging to the province’s top traffic offenders for as long as a week.

Repeat offenders can lose their cars for as long as two months.

The province has strict rules on speeding, with anybody caught travelling 40km/h or more over the posted speed limit – which is the legal definition of “excessive speeding” in the province - liable to have their cars impounded for up to 48 hours.

This increases exponentially for every prior traffic offence on the driver’s record.

Australia also has a strict approach when it comes to traffic offenders. While cars can be impounded for a variety of reasons, they are mainly confiscated when the driver is caught speeding (40km/h over the limit), causing undue noise or is involved in a road rage incident.

Vehicles can also be impounded if the motorist is caught driving without a licence, driving an unlicensed or unregistered vehicle, or driving while their licence is suspended or expired.

According to the World Health Organisation, Australia had only seven deaths on the road per 100 000 people in 2009.

Canada had slightly more at about nine deaths per 100 000 people.

South Africa recorded 33 deaths per 100 000 people in the same year.

SILENCING MOTORMOUTH DRIVERS

Meanwhile, traffic officials have confiscated 1600 cellphones since the City of Cape Town started clamping down on drivers caught texting and chatting behind the wheel.

A by-law regulating this was introduced in July 2012 year as a measure to discourage motorists from using their phones while driving.

The regulation does not only allow traffic officials to confiscate phones but also to slap motorists with a R500 fine.

The by-law was welcomed by the public, but the regulation failed to take off in the way the city had hoped - many motorists were still taking chances.

Therefore, in July this year, the city introduced a further R1100 recovery fee for motorists to reclaim their confiscated phones.

Smith said that of the 1600 phones had been impounded since the by-law was introduced, about 170 had not yet been collected.

If phones are not collected within three months they are auctioned off to the public, with the first auction set to take place in November 2013 - Cape Argus

10cm is all it took to create chaos

N1 ACCIDENT: Questions raised over the city’s ability to handle traffic disasters after man nearly crushed by truck that lost its load on highway

THE TRUCK driver who lost his load on the N1 on Tuesday, causing traffic mayhem across Cape Town, was on the wrong road.

Bound for Saldanha Bay, he should have been on the R27, not the N1.

And his 4.7m load, a 12 ton barge, was 10cm higher than the height limit on the Lower Church Street bridge, which is clearly marked 4.6m.

It was 10cm that made all the difference, not only to Cape Town’s traffic, but also to the driver of the bakkie behind the truck. As the truck drove under the bridge, the barge was swept off the flatbed onto the cab of the bakkie. The driver is in a serious condition in ICU at Groote Schuur Hospital.

Now Capetonians are asking if the city is prepared for emergencies and disasters.

And JP Smith, mayoral commitee member for safety and security, wants an urgent meeting with the city’s transport directorate, safety and security, and Transport MEC Robin Carlisle.

He also wants to know why police insisted on closing all the outward bound lanes of the N1 after the accident, exacerbating the traffic chaos. THE MASSIVE traffic gridlock around the city this week caused by the accident on the N1 has left many wondering if the City of Cape Town is prepared for emergencies and disasters.

Mayoral committee member for transport Brett Herron said the city had a disaster risk management plan to deal with incidents such as yesterday’s accident, and an updated version had been approved by the mayoral committee this week. It includes a disaster risk assessment table that identifies possible hazards and the areas that would be worst hit.

These hazards range from flash floods and tsunamis to earthquakes, pest infestations and an outbreak of an infectious disease. It also looks at nonnatural disasters such as aircraft, rail and shipping incidents.

There is also a plan for a nuclear disaster at Koeberg, although this is listed as “unlikely”.

Each directorate is responsible for its relevant response to an incident.

For a major traffic accident, the chief of traffic services is responsible for co-ordinating a response with the police and other emergency services. This would involve helping police to control and disperse crowds on the roadways near the emergency area.

The plan acknowledges that serious road accidents are “very likely” (expected to happen at least once a month). It also notes that the city’s entire road network – “especially highways and intersections” – are vulnerable.

Herron said the accident on the N1 highlighted an urgent need for a freight management strategy. Many collisions in the city involved freight vehicles.

“We can’t ban freight vehicles from the roads because then we may as well close the city down from an economic perspective. But we need a clear strategy in partnership with Transnet to ensure frequent and reliable freight rail services.”

A plan is being formulated and will probably be in place by next July.

“We need to look at how freight moves, and when it moves, to reduce impact on our road structure and other users. Do we restrict certain trucks to certain roads – and how do we do that?” said Herron.

Roads such as the R27 used by heavy-duty vehicles were showing signs of wear.

Herron said that while Tuesday’s snarl-up had affected road-users, commuters using trains and MyCiTi buses were largely unaffected.

Transport consultant Rory Williams underscored the need for a rapid response to such an emergency, as well as communication between all the relevant authorities. Communication should also extend to commuters via radio and other means so they could make alternative plans before getting stuck in traffic.

Other cities have a middle lane where traffic can be reversed in the event of an emergency.

Commuters vented their frustration on social media and “#gridlock” trended on Twitter.

“Why Cape Town needs more roads: #Gridlock in the city after an accident shut down ONE major route,” read one Tweet, while another annoyed commuter Tweeted: “Can only hope there are consequences for the injury and gridlock caused by negligence in Cape Town today”.

● Herron said the city was moving closer to its vision of an integrated transport system with “one ticket, one timetable”.

Talks with the national and provincial government about allowing the City of Cape Town to take over all contracting and regulatory responsibilities for public transport are at an advanced stage.

Since the new Transport for Cape Town structure was formed a year ago, the city has applied to national government to be the contracting authority for land public transport.

It has also prepared a business plan to take over all the licensing functions of public transport, currently the responsibility of the provincial government.

“The ultimate goal is to integrate all these nodes into one network.”

There are talks with Metrorail and Golden Arrow to introduce the smart card, used on MyCiTi routes, into these services.

The Passenger Rail Agency of SA has agreed to put the multibillionrand Blue Downs rail project on its 2015 budget. This will link the southeast of the metro with the northern suburbs via a direct rail service.

Herron said that since many commuters came into the city from beyond the metro’s borders, there were plans to extend the city’s transport – be it with a MyCiTi bus or another service – to areas such as Stellenbosch and Somerset West. IN THE wake of the gridlock on Tuesday, that added hours to the home-bound commute for many thousands of central city workers, the one question motorists have been asking with some alarm is this: if the city was shut down for several hours by a single accident, involving a large truck and a bakkie, how would we possibly manage in a mega-emergency?

As things stand, the only possible answer is: with difficulty.

It’s doubtful that even the best emergency plan in the world could ease movement on our car-clogged roads… if motorists assume that, in an emergency, they can expect to get clear of the danger zone in their own cars.

Would we agree, for instance, to abandon our cars on the pavements and board buses laid on to ferry us away from danger, or agree to remain at work, in our offices, to keep roadways clear for emergency vehicles only?

This is mere conjecture. The fact is, we don’t have to imagine the likely traffic mangle that might ensue in the event of a really serious or city-wide emergency – this week’s gridlock is telling evidence enough of what is, fundamentally, an unsustainable transport modus in the 21st century.

SIMPLY speaking, too many of us – most, single drivers – are using the roads, and it’s as clear as daylight that that will have to change. It is costly, to individuals as much as the economy, wasteful of resources, and, not least, in a society with much to be frustrated about, it only ups the aggression and impatience we have enough of already.

On the transport front, there is a palpable sense that Cape Town is applying more progressive thinking, planning and investing today than at any other time in decades. The MyCiTi bus initiative, the centralising of transport management and the increasing emphasis on better, safer public transport are reflections of this.

But it may be time to consider new measures that will, to be bald, punish the excessive use of cars.

The unavoidable alternative will be to endure more traffic fiascos like Tuesday’s, or worse ones.