Police investigate reckless and negligent driving
A case of reckless and negligent driving has reportedly been opened against the bus driver who is allegedly responsible for last week’s accident in KaMhlushwa
KAMHLUSHWA – A case of reckless and negligent driving has reportedly been opened against the bus driver who is allegedly responsible for last week’s accident in KaMhlushwa.
This follows the narrow escape of a female driver, when her GWM bakkie was ran off the road by the bus on Friday morning.
According to eye witnesses, the victim was making a legal turn off the D797 road towards Malalane, past Patel Hardware, when the accident occurred.
The bus begun overtaking another vehicle behind the GWM, and smashed into the bakkie before running it off the road and coming to a standstill on top of it.
The driver sustained minor injuries, despite the impact occurring on her side, and was transported to Tonga hospital, and was discharged the very same day.
The accident has angered community members, commuters, and other motorists.
“No, something needs to be done about these bus drivers now, what they are doing is wrong. This is a 60km/h zone, and they are used to speeding in this area. We have children going to school at this time, a child could have easily been hit,” said a community member.
A Buscor bus commuter, Ms Nomcebo Thabethe, who makes use of the bus to get to work every day, said drivers behave as if they were driving small vehicles.
She said, “It is that we don’t have any other affordable and reliable modes of transport which we can make use of, but our lives are at risk every day. The way these bus operators drive, you would swear they are driving small private vehicles. They are not even speeding, they are flying.”
Shortly after the story went live on our website, it became appearent that this problem was not an isolated one.
According to an online reader, something definatley needs to be done about bus drivers’ attitude on the road.
“Something needs to be done with these bus drivers, travelling from White River to Mbombela every day and it is scary to see how they think the road belongs to them, overtaking each other, cutting turns and pushing their way into traffic. My heart goes out to the innocent people travelling in a bus every day,” commented Geraldine.
Buscor’s spokesman, Mr Vuyani Ndlovu, informed Corridor Gazette on Tuesday morning, that internal disciplinary action had been initiated against the driver.
He furthermore confirmed that all Buscor buses are governed by a speed limit of 90km/h.
Ndlovu reassured commuters and other users that their drivers are competent.
He said, “Our passengers are a living testimony, we have people who have been using Buscor buses for a long time without being involved in an accident with or on our buses. Therefore, it would be unfair to claim incompetence due to this incident.”
Ndlovu added that the owner of the GWM had already submitted a third-party claim.
“The third party has submitted the required documents to the Buscor accident officer, and an insurance claim has been filed,” concluded Ndlovu.
