Trucking accidents down on Durban corridor

Road safety initiatives

are making inroads along

the N3 which has seen

a significant drop in the

number of heavy vehicle

accidents.

According to Con Roux

of N3TC, around 60 million

tonnes of freight move on

the corridor every year and

the accident consequences

are huge.

Not only does it close

down the movement of

cargo and people between

Durban and Johannesburg,

but it escalates costs and

increases inefficiency.

“And we see these

accidents almost every

day. An accident along Van

Reenen’s pass simply means

we have to close the N3 for a

period of time, which causes

backlogs that are sometimes

more than 20km long.”

He said heavy vehicles

made up around 35% of the

traffic on the route.

“From January to April

this year we recorded a total

of 339 crashes,” he said. “A

few years ago heavies would

have made up at least 50%

of these crashes but that

ratio has changed somewhat

as more initiatives to

address road safety have

been put in place.”

He said of the 339

crashes only 78 had

involved a single heavy

vehicle and another 32

involved more than one

heavy vehicle. Only one

fatality was recorded for

the four months in a heavy

vehicle.

“In the past five years

we have seen the accidents

involving heavy vehicles

decrease significantly,” said

Roux.

CAPTION

Annually, around 60 million tonnes of freight move on the N3 Durban corridor.