A complex located at a curve on the R44 on the outskirts of Heldervue has become synonymous with accidents, with nine occurring so far in which vehicles have ended up against (or through) the exterior walls of a complex.
Over the last few years Pepperwood Estate’s exterior walls have borne the brunt of the accidents, with vehicles veering off the road and crashing into them.
The last two were on Thursday 15 and Sunday 18 June. The first involved a white Ford Everest that crashed into the wall which caused the wall to collapse partially. The second, on Sunday (18 June), was less severe when another section of the same wall suffered less damage, even though the vehicle, a white Suzuki Ignis, was severely damaged in the accident.
In both accidents the occupants were lucky to not be seriously injured.
According to Kobus van Zyl, a very distressed resident of the estate, it has at least one such accident per year.
“For some reason the road is dangerous, I am not sure why, because I myself use the road regularly,” he said.
Residents of the complex have sent various letters to Ward 15 councillor Gregory Peck, who has escalated it to the relevant authorities. “We had not received any feedback until we had a similar incident on Sunday 5 March,” Van Zyl said.
In this incident a grey Toyota Fortuner left the road and hurdled through another section of Pepperwood Estate’s exterior wall.
“These vehicles drive through the wall with such force that debris is found in our backyards from these accidents,” said Van Zyl. “It can be life threatening, particularly if someone is in the yard when one of these accidents occur.”
One suggestion made in the effort to seek a solution to the problem is to install guard rails, which was included in correspondence with Peck, and which is before the Western Cape Department of Infrastructure.
But Lenn Fourie, Deputy Director-General for Transport Infrastructure, in his reply to the correspondence, said that section of road did not meet conditions for installing guard rails, so the road authority will not install them, nor will a third party be allowed to install them, which effectively prolongs the safety risk to the road user.
Fourie explained this particular stretch of the R44 is not in a dangerous low-standard curve.
“The verge and road reserve are very wide and the direction of travel is uphill. The chances that out-of-control vehicles will leave the road reserve are indeed very slim.” Nevertheless, three accidents have occurred at Pepperwood Estate within the last year.
Another resident at Pepperwood Estate claimed these three, on 5 March and 15 and 18 June, have cost the estate in the region of R195 000 to repair the damaged exterior walls.
Peck confirmed he was aware of the situation and had on a number of occasions been in discussions with the province about the accidents.
“Chevron boards had been placed along the road to indicate the curve in it,” he said. “The problem is motorists are driving too fast and losing control.”
Peck says the problem does not lie with the design of the road nor the road markings but that speeding is the main culprit. “A guard rail installation is a very dangerous obstacle in any road environment and crashes with guard rails have been the cause of many road fatalities in itself,” reiterates Fourie.
“The function of guardrails in a road design is to protect the driver from leaving the road and to ‘throw’ the vehicle back onto the road, so to speak.
“The installation is in effect specially designed to do this. Even this is very dangerous and can have severe consequences for the driver and also other road users in the traffic stream.
“So the argument is that if it is ‘safer’ (that is, less risky) for the driver and/or other road users if the vehicle leaves the roadway, then let that happen instead of ‘throwing the vehicle back onto the carriageway’. . Repair work at the damaged wall is underway and almost complete.
