Toll plaza clinic aims to curb truck accidents

TRUCK drivers spend long, strenuous hours on the road, to the detriment of their health, which could account for the high number of accidents they are involved in.

For this reason, the N3 Toll Concession (N3TC) has a mobile clinic at the Mooi River toll plaza.

In about 15 minutes, truck drivers can have their cholesterol, blood pressure and eyes tested free of charge by nurses at the mobile clinic.

Praveen Sunderlall, the N3TC roads incidents management systems manager at the toll gate, said the driver wellness programme was important because of the high number of truck accidents on the road.

From January to October there have been 501 heavy vehicle crashes on the N3, which amounted to 50.2% of all crashes. This was up from 44.8% from last year.

For drivers like Thulasizwe Maseko, the health check-ups on the side of the busy highway are important as he never has time to visit a doctor.

“The wellness programme is important for drivers. We are on the roads for long. We work abnormal hours. You are always pushed to work harder,” Maseko said.

“I drive every day and only rest on Saturday. There is so much pressure to get to deliver goods quickly, and that is bad for our health,” Maseko said.

One of the nurses, Innocentia Mabunda, said drivers were sometimes reluctant to do health check-ups as they were under pressure to get to their destinations quickly.

Mabunda added that one of the most common health issues for truck drivers was obesity, which led to conditions such as cholesterol and hypertension.

“They don’t eat well and they never have time to exercise, so they gain a lot of weight. That’s why they have to be checked for cholesterol. Once tested, we teach them how to eat more healthily even though they are always on the road,” she said.