Distracted driving cited as major cause of highway deaths between KwaDukuza and Dokodweni

Distracted driving, such as motorists using their cell phones while on the move, is believed to be the leading cause of the many serious accidents on the treacherous stretch of the N2 between KwaDukuza and Dokodweni.

This is according to emergency personnel and police who attend to the accident scenes.

Fifteen people have already died on this stretch of road this year alone.

Accidents in one form or another are reported almost daily.

The latest fatal crash occurred on July 17 after a man died in a head-on crash near Zinkwazi, presumably the fourth head-on collision since January.

Earlier this year two learner drivers and their instructor were killed when a vehicle crossed the lanes, and in April three people died in a late-night head-on collision.

Last month, three more people died in a multi-truck collision at the Zinkwazi-Darnall bridge.

A particular hotspot area is where the north and southbound lanes merge without a median.

Motorists have frequently called for increased visible traffic policing and a clampdown on reckless driving.

IPSS Medical Rescue managing director Dylan Meyrick told the Courier he had driven this particular stretch of road for more than 22 years and failed to understand the cause of so many serious accidents.

“On average we deal with a serious accident at least once a week, while fatal accidents happen about monthly,” he said.

The emergency medical response company’s operations manager, Keith Pillay, reports they’ve responded to 105 accidents this year alone in the same vicinity, of which 10 additional accidents were fatal, some involving pedestrians.

On Tuesday a pedestrian was hit by a vehicle, the second within 24 hours.

Asked whether they believed speeding to be the main cause, Meyrick said he believed distracted driving to be the main problem.

“Too many motorists drive while using their cell phones, even texting, and more needs to be done in terms of the law to make examples out of such drivers.”

He also believed distracted driving could be reduced to some extent using rumble strips on the inside lanes separating the traffic.

Motorists doing U-turns on the N2 also cause serious problems.

“Motorists fail to judge the speed of oncoming traffic when making U-turns,” said Meyrick.

KwaDukuza Saps communications officer, Sipesihle Myeni, agreed that distracted driving was one of the leading causes of the accidents.

“Speeding and driving under the influence of alcohol are other causes.”

Another contributing factor was motorists driving with their headlights and tail lights off in the dark, making it difficult to spot them.

Neither the Department of Transport nor the South African National Roads Agency had responded to request for comment.

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