Road carnage - know your liability

The recent accident in Pinetown where a runaway truck drove into four minibus taxis and a car killing 23 people horrified South Africans. At the trial, the court was told that the driver of the truck, Sanele May, had been found to have a fraudulent public driving permit. On November 11, a truck collided with a bus near the town of Kwaggafontein, 100 kilometres east of Pretoria. The truck was apparently trying to avoid a stationary vehicle and collided with an oncoming bus. Twenty nine people died and again South Africans were shocked and saddened. Accidents like these are worrying to the average commuter and many are questioning whether haulage trucks should be restricted to certain routes, which of course would have a serious impact on the freight industry. Is there a straightforward answer to who is to blame for these horrific accidents? The Moloto road route is well known for fatal collisions. Nevertheless, approximately 50 000 people use it to travel to Pretoria daily, despite it being narrow and full of potholes. Commuters who use the road regularly report seeing overloaded transport vehicles which often exceed the speed limit. What is worrying is that this congested commuter route has managed to achieve notoriety without anyone in local government seeming to be working to improve the situation. There are some hauliers on our roads whose employees drive when fatigued, or who are behind the wheel of an unroadworthy vehicle. In the event of a claim, these owners run the real risk of having their insurance policies voided ab initio, and they may be held liable in full for the cargo they carry, as well as for any third party damage as they would not be covered. Thankfully, the majority of fleets are run efficiently and effectively, but are left to deal with the minority who are giving their industry a bad name, as well as having to cope with the inevitable potholes, speeding and corruption. When hauliers are involved in fatal accidents, we need to understand where safety can be improved within this industry. As normal South African commuters, however, we need to call for accountability and punishment for those who continue to flout the rules of our roads, and for those who fail to provide a safe level of infrastructure. These types of accidents, after all, could affect any one of us.