The police are investigating a case of reckless and negligent driving after the collision last week on the R43 at Onrus involving five vehicles.
Five vehicles – a Lenvalco Ready Mix truck, Renault Kwid, an Elantra, an Audi and a Mahindra bakkie – were involved in the accident on Thursday 20 April at the Onrus Trading Post intersection. Motorists were stuck in traffic jams for hours as traffic was diverted at Lynx Road through Vermont and Onrus to exit at the Kidbrooke robots.
The accident reportedly happened just when loadshedding kicked in. This allegedly caused a glitch with the traffic lights that remained green for traffic on the R43 while the light flashed red for traffic turning onto the R43 from Onrus. The flashing red light is believed to have caused confusion, leading to the Kwid and Audi turning onto the R43, into the path of the approaching truck with right of way.
Sanet Byrne, of Lenvalco, said her driver informed her he tried to swerve to avoid hitting the vehicles. “ If the lights were green for traffic on the R43, why did it flicker red for vehicles coming from Onrus? The road was wet, and stopping a 13,9-ton truck with a load of 16 450 kg across such a short distance in the intersection is near impossible. This accident truly was the result of a lot of things that went wrong at that moment. It was by God’s grace nobody was seriously injured.”
Her husband Stuart added: “Our driver needs to be commended for managing to stop in the intersection. He clipped the first white car but couldn’t avoid hitting the Audi.”
Lunga Mdodiso, who was travelling in Hermanus’ direction, said everything happened very fast and felt like a bad dream. “After my car was hit I heard a lot of noise as other vehicles were also hit. The Audi was hit hardest. I am glad nobody died.”
Stuart stated that he felt pity for Lunga who left the scene shortly after the accident and assisted him with the necessary documents to open a case.
Captain Fadila September, spokesperson for the Hermanus police, confirmed that a case of reckless and negligent driving is being investigated.
“It is alleged one of the five vehicles involved failed to stop at the red light, and this led to the collision,” she said.
