PICS: Resident calls for road calming measures on Montclair Road
Nokuthula Msimango lives under constant fear as cars regularly speed on the stretch of road.
A RESIDENT on Montclair Road in Montclair is calling for road calming measures following a crash on her boundary wall.
Nokuthula Msimango said she lives under constant fear as cars regularly speed on the stretch of road. The recent crash happened on Tuesday morning, 8 June. This is the fourth time that an incident of this nature happened.
“At some point, my grandson was almost knocked by a car on this same road,” she said. Thanks to residents in the flats across their house, who screamed at him telling him to run to safety.
“A car coming down Southwold Avenue did not stop at the stop sign. The car crashed so hard into another car that it spun and faced the opposite direction. A neighbour was hit by a car on the same corner. There are far too many accidents happening on this stretch of road.”
Her house is at the corner of Montclair Road and Southwold Avenue. She said the crashes on her boundary wall happened twice on either side. Msimango was at work when the incident happened. She arrived back home to find a fleet of emergency services vehicles including the police. She said with the latest crash, she’s currently consulting with insurance policies of the driver concerned.
“I’ve received claim forms from the woman who drove into my wall. However, there is a catch to this. They said that if the woman is found to have been negligent, the insurance will not pay. I’ve got two dogs that now have to be restricted in the yard as I don’t want them to get out.
“There’s no security that I can get from the dogs now. I’ve had a dog get hit by a speeding car before. I think if there had been humps, the dog would have survived. It is really scary how cars drive on this road. I don’t understand how Wood Road, which is just down the road from ours, has speed humps but ours does not,” she added.
Ward 64 councillor, Gavin Hegter, said the incident was extremely unfortunate. “Sadly, due to the increasing lawlessness on our roads, this kind of incident is becoming more frequent in our suburbs. I have applied for speed calming on this road a few times, but due to the municipality’s speed calming policy, that is in line with the National Road Traffic laws.
“Due to the category of the road, they cannot install. I will be applying again and will again motivate based on the number of accidents,” he said.
A comment from eThekwini Municipality was not forthcoming at the time of publication.
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