7 October 2020
7
www.thevillagenews.co.za
LET'S TALK The Village NEWS firmly believes in freedom of the press as well as the right of individuals to freely express themselves, as long as they don’t infringe upon the rights of others. The opinions, beliefs and viewpoints expressed by the various authors therefore do not necessarily reflect the opinions, beliefs and viewpoints of The Village NEWS. Letters may be shortened and/or edited for clarity and style. Enjoy our paper. Send your letters to dewaal@thevillagenews.co.za.
Pedestrians need to be educated, too I wholeheartedly agree with Willy Vanderhoeven regarding a need for education pertaining to traffic circles in Hermanus. In addition to his plea to educate drivers, there is a huge need to educate pedestrians, too. The pedestrians in Hermanus seem to almost challenge motorists at the circles, seeming to delight in trying to force them to stop. They obviously do not know the traffic rules regarding circles, and the general public needs to be educated. If pedestrians are at the legal crossing point, vehicles approaching/entering the circle must stop. However, if a vehicle is exiting a circle, a pedestrian at the legal crossing point must wait for the vehicle to pass. This makes sense, as it would otherwise result in a vehicle suddenly having to stop in the process of navigating
Abandoned De Mond is an ‘eyesore’
and exiting the circle – a massive potential for impact from behind. My view is that there should not be any pedestrian crossings at traffic circles at all. Nobody knows the (complicated) rules, and the potential for accidents is way too high. However, if the authorities persist with the misplaced pedestrian crossings, please embark on an education process – especially with pedestrians – to ensure that everyone is able to negotiate the circles safely. D Stoltz Voëlklip For an article and diagram on how to correctly navigate a traffic circle, as well as an article on pedestrian safety and responsibilities, turn to the next page. – Ed
Roundabouts designed to slow down traffic The letter of Willy Vanderhoeven, Traffic circles don’t work in Hermanus (The Village NEWS, 30 September) refers. The remark, ‘’Most drivers treat it like a three- or four-way stop i.e. braking instead of maintaining speed, whether traffic is oncoming or not,” explains why the writer is so frustrated by the conduct of other drivers. If his expectation is that drivers approaching a circle must maintain their speed whether traffic is coming or not, he will be disappointed every time. Traffic circles (the preferred term is roundabouts) are designed to induce slowing down and yielding to traffic on the circulatory road (in the roundabout). Even without traffic in the roundabout, drivers have to slow down to negotiate the geometry: the curved splitter island that forces a turn to the left followed by the inner circle that forces the turn to the right. The discussion on how to use a roundabout should start with the legal requirement on right of way as contained in the National Road Traffic 1996, Act 93 of 1996.
301. Right of way at certain road junctions The driver of a vehicle on a public road shall, when he or she intends entering any portion of a public road which constitutes a junction of two or more public roads where vehicular traffic is required to move around a traffic island within such junction, yield the right of way to all vehicular traffic approaching from his or her right within such junction, unless his or her entry into such junction is controlled by an instruction given by a traffic officer or a direction conveyed by a road traffic sign requiring him or her to act differently. If the driver approaching the roundabout deems it necessary to stop at the yield line in order to observe traffic on the circulatory road or traffic that may enter from the preceding entry road, he/she is driving responsibly and reasonably. I suspect that Hermanus drivers have learned to act in this way to avoid the risk of collisions, because there are some other local drivers that maintain speed (through the roundabout), whether there is traffic or not. Louis Roodt Stanford
One of Hermanus’ great assets stands today sadly forlorn, neglected and apparently abandoned. A major eyesore with broken buildings, piles of building rubbish and blown over trees. That is the current state of De Mond Caravan Park at the eastern end of Voëlklip. Many coastal towns in our country have a campsite where those who cannot afford a hotel, guesthouse or B&B accommodation, or those who simply enjoy the camping and caravanning lifestyle, can enjoy a family holiday
by the sea. The location is ideal and the basic infrastructure was there. Would it not be worth the municipality’s while to consider cleaning it up and providing the necessary facilities that will bring an income and that everyone can enjoy? Let’s share this lovely place with people from all walks of life. Sal Carter Voëlklip
Thank you to HAWS ‘angels’ We recently adopted a dog from HAWS and I want to make special mention of two ‘angels’ who work behind the scenes to make these types of adoptions possible – Razah and Amanda.
Glenda Pope and her grandchildren on the beach with their HAWS rescue dog, Waffles.
Razah, who has the gift to help lost and badly abused animals, especially dogs and cats, to return to health and build up trust in humans once again, if possible, enabling them to find ‘happy ever after’ homes. Also Amanda, always so friendly, encouraging and helpful with all the admin. The Covid-19 lockdown was a very busy time for the kennels with so many pets being rescued and surrendered due to economic and other reasons. Terribly sad, but luckily our community has such a super team working tirelessly to help where they can. One such surrender gave our family the chance to give a happy and loving home to ‘Waffles’, who belonged to a local vagrant and is well known by shop owners and customers at the Sandbaai Engen Centre. He has enriched our lives with his gentle, loving nature. Many recognise him when we are out
walking or on the beach. We cannot imagine life without him now. Thank you, HAWS for the ongoing work by so many to help our fourlegged friends. It is much appreciated. Andrew & Glenda Onrus
