Principal fears for pupils’ safety
Morningside Primary's principal is fed up with the number of taxis parked illegally outside his school.
THE principal of Morningside Primary School is fed up with taxis parking illegally outside his school.
According to Des Friedrichs, the problem has existed for a while, however over the past year it has steadily grown worse.
“On a good day, the taxis occupy the bus parking and the length of the red line running up the road, and park on the pavement too. They do whatever they want to. My caretaker has tried to tell them that they can’t see either way when driving out of our driveway into the road, but he got abuse from them,” said Friedrichs.
He said he had contacted Metro Police, who were around for three days monitoring the situation, but they haven’t been seen since.
“We have done our part – we have moved our gate 40m into Sir Arthur Road for parents to be able to park there. We have spent money and are trying to do what we can to solve the traffic problem. I feel the taxi rank is a result of the fact that we don’t have robots in the area. I have tried to get speed bumps installed outside the school as well, but nothing has worked. I worry that something is going to happen to one of my children. When the bus arrives, they have to stand between these parked taxis and duck across the road to the bus. I feel sorry for our lollipop man as it is his responsiblity to keep them safe. We need a robot and a pedestrian crossing. I just wish the signals department would come see what I am talking about,” he said.
According to Friedrichs, the taxi drivers are also breaking bylaws by washing their vehicles in the road.
Friedrichs said on overcrowded days the taxis had started to move around and park on the grass verge in Sir Arthur Road.
“This does not look great in this area,” he said.
Andrew Aucamp from eThekwini Transport Authority said: “We have previously looked at these intersections and signalisation is not supported. Many people are under the impression that traffic signals can be used to calm traffic. They cannot. In fact, traffic signals often raise the accident rate, especially rear-ends. This seems to be a traffic calming and enforcement issue.”
