Truck carnage time for cool heads

There is no need for tighter legislation to hold truck owners accountable for accidents as it already exists although it is often not implemented, says Gavin Kelly, spokesman for the Road Freight Association. Politicians and the public have been up in arms following the horrific accident in Pinetown earlier this month in which 23 people died when a truck ploughed through an intersection colliding with at least four minibus taxis. As the driver of this vehicle faces 23 counts of murder and one of culpable homicide, politicians have called for more accountability for the owners of trucking companies while the public want to see trucks banned off certain roads. “What needs to happen in this situation is for the accident investigation to ascertain what went wrong and not to apportion blame." Kelly said the current accusations and sweeping statements being made about overloaded trucks and poor service maintenance were based on emotion and not fact. • This article has been shortened due to space constraints. For the full version go to www.ftwonline. co.za and click on the ‘FTW continued’ menu item.