Two car e Mégan l specia PAGE 7
CARS WANTED
July 16, 2015
Witness
WHEELS
Exotic,luxury and supercars WANTED FOR CASH must be low mileage and mint condition, email pics and brief description to ashgani@telkomsa.net
ASH EXOTICS Dealers in Superfine Exotic and Sports Cars Tel: 033 345 1971, 033 342 4717 Fax: 033 342 2900 - www.ashcarsales.co.za 534/550 Church Street, Pietermaritzburg 3201 • Ash 083 786 3377
EDITOR: ALWYN VILJOEN 082 4589 332 ADVERTISING: AVIR THULSIRAM ON 084 278 3447
Oneperson cars the problem Fleet operators say too many cars carrying too few people cause congestion, not slow trucks ALWYN VILJOEN BANNING trucks on roads during peak hours will not improve road safety or lessen congestion — quite the contrary. Banning big trucks will simply see more, smaller trucks deployed to get loads delivered, which will lead to more congestion, more crashes and higher costs to the consumer. This was the reaction of a panel of speakers during the TruckX conference held in Sandton last Thursday of pro posed legislation to remove trucks over eight tons from public roads during morning and afternoon peak hours. Speaking to Wheels after the confer ence, Ricardo Coetzee, managing execu tive: Automotive, Innovation Group, said the government is on the right track to start making roads safer by attempt ing to lessen congestion, but the focus should be on reducing the number of cars with just person in it.
V SAMUEL MAKHATHINI, former fuel truck driver
‘Private drivers need to leave their rage at home if we are to bring down our death toll on the roads.’ He admitted that it is a complex proc ess that needs a holistic approach, but pointed out that other congested cities in the world have shown how it can be done, with solutions ranging from pub lic transport that is faster and easier than a car in traffic, to opening bus lanes to cars with four people, and changing the times people go to work and school. MD of the Unitrans Customer Solu tion Development Division, Ray Singh, said as it stands, the proposed legislation would put a huge strain on existing infra structure, as there is already no space to
park trucks on most routes. Singh said the proposed banning of trucks during peak hours would raise costs by 12,5% to 25%. “This financial impact through the value chain was not thought through at all,” said Singh. Head of Vehicle and Asset Finance Business at Standard Bank, Toni Fritz, said parking big trucks during peak hours will require more depots, more staff and more diesel or electricity to run refrigerator units. MD of Ctrack’s Fleet Management
Division Hein Jordt, said the number of truck hijackings has increased exponen tially in the past few months, and adding more trucks to the roads will increase this crime statistic. Otto Swanepoel, a truck operator who delivers abnormal loads, said his busi ness is already not permitted to operate on weekends, public holidays or at night, and he will have to close if he has to stop during peak hours as well. Swanepoel took issue with the indus try’s blank acceptance that trucks are re sponsible for crashes.
“Trucks are not the guilty party caus ing accidents in South Africa, it is the taxi drivers, the pedestrians and car driv ers. We see it daily between Alberton and Pretoria,” said Swanepoel. He invited Carte Blanche to send a camera crew with his trucks to record just how badly car drivers behave during peakhour traffic, an invitation the pro ducers accepted gladly. Samuel Makhathini, a former fuel truck driver said trucks do not congest the roads, as the smooth flow on South Africa’s busiest highway, the N3, shows. “For 22 hours a day, there are more trucks on the N3 than cars and on aver age they maintain a slow but constant flow. Too often it is when a toofast car collides with a truck that the road gets blocked. “Private drivers need to leave their rage at home if we are to bring down our death toll on the roads,” said Makha thini.