Poor policing fuels truck disasters
DEATHS and injuries from road crashes involving trucks are reaching horrifying proportions in KwaZulu-Natal, where the government is quick to pin the blame on vehicle owners and drivers.
While the KZN Department of Transport’s spindoctors churn out media releases bemoaning the rising fatalities and urging caution on the roads, its officials should share the blame – for creating an enabling environment for wrongdoing to fester.
Hackneyed responses from the powers-that-be are not going to halt this frightening trend of truck-related crashes, often involving unroadworthy vehicles that are owned by reckless businessmen and driven by careless, unskilled employees.
Law enforcement authorities should likewise be held liable.
How is it that a truck can travel long distances along our national freeways with obvious defects such as no working lights and not be pulled over?
I’ve lost count of such trucks I’ve spotted, night after night, on the N2.
How is it that law enforcement officers cannot see what the ordinary motoring public can see – that trucks owners are operating with impunity?
On September 2, at 6.15pm, I was following a fully-laden 18-wheeler with no rear lights on, on the N2, near the Solomon Mahlangu (Edwin Swales VC) Drive exit.
As the vehicle was a clear danger to other road users, I called 10111 and explained to the emergency line operator why such trucks needed to be pulled off the road.
I asked to be informed if it would be stopped and was told I would.
Almost 10km later and there were no police; there has been no call back to date.
I can only assume that police did not think it warranted a call out. And so yet another potentially fatal road hazard slipped by.
Hours later, I found a cell number for the logistics company on the internet and sent an SMS asking for the e-mail address of the owner, thinking he or she might be grateful for the heads-up.
What I received was a call back from an irate woman, Amanda, who said she was the operations manager.
When told of the defective lights, she lashed out at me for not understanding their situation – that a container had fallen on their trailer during loading and the lights had been knocked out. She said an electrician had tried to fix them but could not.
So they thought nothing of sending off the truck, minus lights, on the busy roads at night!
Amanda asked me what they were to do, if their truck had become defective in Pietermaritzburg and their depot was in Durban. “Should we just leave it in Pietermaritzburg”? she barked.
I was incredulous. They would rather drive a defective truck from Pietermaritzburg to Durban than sort out the problem.
When they adopt that attitude and SAPS, the Road Traffic Inspectorate and Metro Police turn a blind eye, the end result is what we’re seeing on our roads on a daily basis.
Perhaps these authorities know that all they can offer the concerned public are platitudes, which is why I am still to get a reply to my complaint e-mailed that night to top media officials of the three law enforcement agencies. Despite a reminder being sent for comment, for possible publication, there was only silence.
The Road Freight Association (RFA), which was copied in on the correspondence, replied that if indeed the freight operator’s vehicle had no lights on after 6pm (or sunset), it was in contravention of the National Road Traffic Act, Act 93 of 1996 (as amended).
“We have on numerous occasions raised similar concerns with the various authorities at local, provincial and national level. To no avail. Traffic policing leaves much to be desired and has become a serious cause for concern,” Gavin Kelly, the association’s technical and operations manager, said in an e-mail.
“There is no excuse for poorly maintained or non-road worthy vehicles. They are a danger to both the operator and staff as well as all other road users.”
Added Kelly: “The RFA continually engages with local and provincial authorities in an effort to bring about a change in the traffic policing fraternity – so that effective removal of risks is practised on a daily basis and that non-road worthy vehicle operators (whether large or small) are effectively dealt with in terms of the relevant legislation.”
Two weeks ago Transport MEC Willies Mchunu led a debate in the KZN legislature, calling on all the people of KwaZulu-Natal to take collective responsibility in ensuring safety on the road.
“As government we will do all we can, including strengthening laws and policies,” said Mchunu, adding that his department would also be announcing new “drastic measures” to curb road accidents next month during the October Transport Month programmes.
But what use is this if the government and law enforcement agencies can’t even do the basics?
The carnage we are seeing can only be prevented if all role-players mean and do what they say. Until then it will only get worse.