Driving becomes dangerous on the R24
Lights on the section of the highway between Edenvale and Barbara roads have not worked for more than two years.
Driving on the R24 highway is becoming increasingly dangerous.
ALSO READ: Greyhound buses return to SA’s roads
Lights on the section of the highway between Edenvale and Barbara roads have not worked for more than two years.
And while this poses a potentially life-threatening hazard, motorists are not the only ones at risk.
Emergency services personnel attending to crash scenes on the highway at night do so without the luxury of overhead lighting.
One such incident occurred on June 18 when two motorists were hospitalised after five vehicles collided on the R24.
The incident occurred between Edenvale Road on-ramp and Barbara Road off ramp shortly before midnight.
ALSO READ: Clampdown on roadside repairs for safety
City of Ekurhuleni Department of Emergency Management Services (DEMS) spokesperson William Ntladi said it was suspected that the collision was caused by diesel that had spilt onto the highway, prior to the crash.
He said a truck with a damaged fuel tank was found at the scene. The highway was closed while clean-up operations took place.
It was only reopened the following morning.
Ntladi said the spillage was spread across all four lanes of the highway for around 800m.
He told the Bedfordview and Edenvale NEWS following the crash that the lack of lights during the night on the roads remains a danger to all road users.
“All roads inclusive of the R24 need lights for better visibility to all users.”
He added that the functionality of lights on national and provincial roads remains the primary responsibility of SANRAL as they are the main custodians thereof.
ALSO READ: Err on the side of caution on wet roads
The NEWS sent an enquiry to a number of departments questioning who was responsible for attending to the maintenance of the lights along the R24.
Madoda Mthembu, SANRAL’s operations and maintenance manager for the Northern Region, told the NEWS that the R24 highway between Barbara and Edenvale roads is not part of SANRAL’s network.
“The responsibility for maintenance varies depending on whether the lighting is on the national, provincial or municipal road network,” he said.
Further enquiries were sent to the Gauteng Department of Roads and Transport on June 21 and the City of Ekurhuleni on June 22.
Comment was requested by June 24. At the time of going to print, no comment was received.
Also follow us on:
