Motorists applauded the efforts by local neighbourhood watches after a tanker truck transporting petrol blocked both lanes on the R27 (West Coast Road) on Saturday night.
The tanker driver alleged that he was told to return to the depot and decided to make a U-turn when the truck got stuck.
A traffic officer who had also just arrived on the scene and members of both the Melkbosstrand and Table View Neighbourhood Watches quickly decided that the approaching traffic had to be warned of the situation and members were deployed to both the Table View side, as well as the Melkbosstrand side of the accident to warn oncoming vehicles.
A motorist, Larry Govender, says had it not been for the warning, he would not have seen the tanker.
“It was completely dark . . . there are no lights on the road. The neighbourhood watch members saved my life,” he says.
Routine patrol
Rhine Barnes, chair of the Melkbosstrand NHW, says members who were on a routine patrol were alerted to an accident involving the tanker truck.
“Motorists reported that the tanker had left the road and that both lanes were obstructed. Meanwhile, the Table View Neighbourhood Watch had received a similar report and (we) were also responding to the scene. On arriving at the scene, it was clear that this was a highly dangerous situation as the tanker was not visible and motorists could not clearly see that the road was obstructed,” he says.
“The next priority was to direct headlights onto the tanker so that it was visible to the oncoming traffic and lastly, to establish a stop/ go system so that motorists could get past the accident via the shoulder of the road. While this was taking place, the traffic officer and driver of the truck were making arrangements with the transport company to get the vehicle recovered from where it was stuck,” he told TygerBurger.
The cold and rain tested the resolve of the NHW volunteers, but they stuck to the task at hand and ensured that all motorists were able to safely navigate their way past the accident scene.
Around midnight the tanker truck was recovered and safely back on the road, much to everyone’s relief.
A senior traffic officer who arrived at the scene expressed his appreciation for the NHW volunteers from both Table View and Melkbosstrand for their efforts on a very cold and rainy night, “to ensure that a disaster was everted as the tanker was fully loaded with diesel and with the wet roads and poor visibility, it could easily have had a different outcome”.
