This ‘gat’s’ cost – a new tyre

AN IRATE Vryheid resident stormed into the Vryheid Herald on Monday. Driving her car in Church Street she’d hit a huge hole in the road surface, damaging her one tyre beyond repair.

What the hell was the municipality doing, she asked, creating hazards on the road? It was all their fault. They’d created this hazard and even had drums there to keep the traffic away, but a drum got hit so now there was no warning, no red tape. She said that she was going to claim from the municipality the cost of a new tyre.

The ‘gat’ in question is in Church Street, as traffic approaches President Street from the Vryheid High School side. It looks as if the ‘gat’ has been squared off prior to the tarmac being re-laid, but the edges are sharp and deep enough to ruin a tyre and wreck a low-profile rim. On Monday afternoon, there was no warning of any type – no cones, no red tape. Only two bollards were half lying in the road creating an additional hazard.

So, this being a two-lane approach to the intersection, vehicles in the left hand lane might easily be hemmed in by vehicles on their right. They might have no option but to slam into and out of this road hazard.

The driver who hit this hole on Monday has said she will let us know if her claim to the municipality is successful.