Child, 12, dies in taxi crash

ANOTHER family will be grieving this morning after a 12-year-old child was killed and many were injured when a taxi crashed in Pinetown late yesterday afternoon.

The fatal crash comes after four children were killed in Ntuzuma, near KwaMashu, Durban earlier this week in a head-on collision between a taxi and a bus.

Last night, Rescue Care Paramedics spokesman, Garrith Jamieson, said the taxi had left the road on the corner of Mariannridge and Adams roads and had hit two pedestrians, one of them the 12-year-old, before crashing into a swing structure.

“Paramedics found the child in a critical condition and worked to stabilise him. However, his injuries were too severe and resuscitation attempts were unsuccessful.

“He was declared dead at the scene,” said Jamieson.

Initiative

With a growing number of children dying on the province’s roads, president of the KwaZulu-Natal Transport Alliance, Gerard Ferror, said that the industry was looking at launching a new initiative which would see taxi drivers having to prove a minimum of three years driving experience before being employed as a driver. “Inexperienced drivers are unable to detect problems,” said Ferror.

Commenting on the Ntuzuma accident, Ferror said: “It was the worst thing that could have happened on the first day back at school.

“This was sheer carelessness. That driver will not drive again in this area and he must be dealt with under the full might of the law. You cannot overload children in a vehicle,” said Ferror.

He said 1 000 taxi drivers were getting safety training and that passengers should be encouraged to use seatbelts.

“Part of the training is scholar transport and the safety of children. If you are carrying people, you have to be able to handle a vehicle properly,” said Ferror.

The Road Traffic Management Corporation is investigating the Ntuzuma accident.

They have urged traffic authorities to adopt a zero- tolerance approach to all vehicles carrying school children.