Heavy traffic on all roads
Johannesburg - Roads to Gauteng are experiencing extremely heavy traffic as holiday makers return home after the festive season, the Road Traffic Management Corporation said on Monday.
"Twenty-six thousand cars an hour are passing through the N3 Mooi River toll plaza going north to Johannesburg from Durban today, with a peak of 2633 cars after noon," spokesperson Ashref Ismail said
On the N1 south, 1 700 cars were passing through the Kranskop toll plaza between Polokwane and Pretoria every hour, while 1 000 cars were passing through the Verkeerdevlei toll plaza on the N1 north to Johannesburg in the Free State. "We want to appeal to road users to please exercise extreme caution and to observe the rules of the road.
"It has been reported to the Road Traffic Management Corporation that following distances on the roads are not what they should be. We appeal to motorists to not drive on the back of vehicles in front of you, as this can cause accidents and road rage," he said.
"If you are travelling long distances, take a break every 200km or two hours."
He said traffic officials were exercising a zero tolerance approach to drivers and vehicles that could potentially cause harm to other road users.
"Traffic enforcement will be conducting high visibility patrols around the clock and dangerous drivers will be removed from the road as will unroadworthy vehicles."
Ismail cautioned those towing caravans and trailers to monitor tyre pressure for both the vehicle and what was being towed to ensure tyres didn't burst while in transit.
The RTMC's preliminary figure for road deaths during the festive season was just over 1100.
- SAPA/News24
Three drown in freak boating accident
Johannesburg - Three people have died in a freak accident on the Bronkhorstspruit Dam after the pilot of their boat fell overboard.
Eddie dos Santos, 42, apparently lost control of his boat and fell overboard when he tried to turn too sharply to pick up his step daughter Claudia Barros-Botha, 25, and her husband Gawie Botha, 29, who had fallen off an inflatable chair.
The two youngsters who died in the accident were Ramon da Costa, 17, and his 16-year-old friend, Mikaela de Araujo. They'd apparently fallen off the boat.
The boat, which was going round incircles, hit dos Santos and the two youngsters.
Officials of the Catamaran Club rushed to the scene, but were only able to rescue the Bothas.
Dawn, the wife of dos Santos, collapsed when she was told of the tragedy. She could not believe he was dead and, cradling him in her arms, kep on shouting for him to wake up.
It was a terrible sight, according to Barry Page a safety officer at the dam.
Pilots of speed boats are supposed to have a cord attached to their life vest and to an emergency switch to prevent just such an accident from happening.
- Die Beeld/News24
Air search for missing boy
Durban - An aerial search for a 10-year-old boy who is presumed to have drowned off Pennington on KwaZulu-Natal's South Coast will start on Tuesday morning.
This, after divers gave up their search in diminishing light on Monday evening, Netcare 911 spokesperson Jeffrey Wicks said.
"Common cause information indicates that the boy was swimming in the surf and got into distress," he said.
"Witnesses report the boy disappearing beneath the water."
"The cause of the accident and the series of events leading up to it remain unclear and will form the subject of a police investigation."
- SAPA/News24
Motorist held for driving at 200km/h
Johannesburg - A man was arrested for clocking 200km/h on a 120 speeding zone on the N4 Bakwena Platinum Highway outside Brits in the North West Province on New Year's Day.
According to the provincial public safety department, the 22-year-old was driving a BMW 330i with Gauteng registration plates.
"The suspect said to be a student at a tertiary institution was driving from Sun City to Laudium with his girl-friend and another couple at the time of the alleged offence," said spokesperson Lesiba Moses Kgwele.
"He was locked up at the Brits Police Station and is expected to appear in the Brits Magistrates court on Tuesday to answer to charges of speeding."
- SAPA/News24
No comments:
Post a Comment