EDITOR – On Thursday morning, 6 August at around 9.25am I witnessed an act of sheer lunacy by a driver of a heavy vehicle carrying a load of steel. The incident occurred at the robot at the post office intersection.
While I was waiting to proceed left towards Ashley, this driver slowly drove on my left hand side in the left hand lane and drove straight through the red robot as if it was not there. He then proceeded slowly on towards the robot at the Old Main Road / Forrester Avenue / Caversham Road and moved into the right hand lane to turn right.
I followed the truck as it proceeded down the little hump in Forrest Avenue and up the little rise to the yield sign for left into Mariannhill Road or stop sign onto Trotter Lane. The driver did not even stop here but drove straight through and came to a stop behind two other trucks, but was parked on the right side of the road against a no parking sign. I stopped in the parking area of a couple of work places to the left and went over to see if a contact number was visible and found it on the side of the truck.
I contacted the number and spoke to the owner, who was very pleasant and knew the driver when I gave the registration plate number and where the truck was stopped. But, and here lies the big problem – when I spoke to the driver and told him that he must know why I am there, he had the audacity to say because of the 26-ton load he is carrying the truck will not pull away from an incline and that he had the same problem yesterday (5 August) and that’s why he does not stop on hills.
This is totally unacceptable and shows the disregard for the safety of other road users by haulage companies or drivers. There have been far too many accidents over the last number of years resulting from negligence of truck drivers and haulage company owners.
Very Concerned Road User
Pinetown
