September 7, 2017
Witness
WHEELS
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Overloading here to stay
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A toothless Santaco and lax laws allow too many people to squeeze into deathtraps ALWYN VILJOEN OVERLOADING has been blamed for several horror crash es in South Africa recently, with the usual calls by people in au thority for this to stop. But overloading is here to stay, as it is a cornerstone of the taxi system and the only way in which the omalume (uncles) who transport pupils in bakkies and midibuses can see a bit of profit as fuel prices keep on rising. Santaco, which has proven it self toothless in the ongoing route wars between registered and unregistered taxi operators in Pietermaritzburg and Soweto, also has no plan to stop over loading and seems powerless to stop taxis from squeezing in standing passengers. Every evening, every taxi in South Africa overloads to the point of bursting on the last ride home. This is because all the money from the last ride goes to the conductors, who prefer this system to getting a portion of each ride through the day. Passengers pay less for the in convenience of standing, but the extra numbers enable the con ductor to earn his wage for the day. One conductor who wanted to remain nameless told Wheels they prefer this to getting a per centage of the day’s fees. “We don’t know how many people we will get during the day, but we know how many people are waiting for the last ride each night.” As for the omalume, Peggie Mars from Wheel Well, an orga nisation promoting road safety for children, said the National Road Traffic Act allows over loading of pupils.
According to Regulation 231, the number of children that may be carried in a vehicle is as fol lows: • Any child under the age of three is not counted. • Two children between the age of three and six are counted as one person. • Three children between the age of six and 13 are counted as two people. “Thus in an eightseater, there can legally be more than 16 children seated within that vehicle depending on their age,” said Mars. Mars said this legislation needed to change, but mean while there should be a policy of “one bum per seat” in vehicles designed to transport children. “I understand the socioeco nomic issues involved for low income and noincome families but there is no excuse for inade quate school transport,” she said. She said parents should check if the “uncles” who transport their children used car seats. “The transport of children should be considered as special transport where safety is the foremost consideration. “The law does not support their safety yet, but through con sumer pressure school transport will improve. Informed parents can drive the need for change,” she said. Mars called on corporates to step in on the behalf of parents who do not have the finances or even the option of better trans portation. “Children in low income and very poor communities have no voice and their parents’ time and energy is consumed eking out a
living. Corporate companies can sponsor transport for children and use unemployed communi ty members to drive vehicles,” she said. Managing director of Master Drive Eugene Herbert agrees it is going to take more than just stricter consequences for drivers to stop overloading. “The legal foundation needs to be in place. “This starts with acknowl edging that children are even more vulnerable in crashes and have a right to a proper seat and the correct restraints. “Additionally, parents also need to play their role in ensur ing this and in pressuring trans port providers to do the same. “If we do not work together to bring about this change, chil dren will continue to be the ones who suffer the consequences,” said Herbert.
of DNV GL’s energy consulting business, told Reuters in an in terview. “The trends are very clear ... we’re moving into a world of EVs, but we have to remember we are racing against the clock. It’s not enough,” said Engel, whose 2 300 staff advise compa nies and governments on energy issues. He said, on current projec tions, the world would not achieve the goal of limiting the Earth’s warming to well below two degrees Celsius by 2050, as
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“In an eight seater, there can legally be more than 16 children seated, depending their age.”
Evees not enough to cool Earth ARNHEM — The cost of electric vehicles (EVs) will fall to match those running on combustion engines by 2022, a key trigger that will mean by 2035 half of all passenger vehicles sold glo bally will be electric, according to the head of a top energy con sultancy. But this expected exponential rise in cleaner vehicles, coupled with booming renewable energy production, will not be enough to meet the Paris Agreement goal of limiting climate warm ing, Ditlev Engel, chief executive
DOUG Fear oversteers a tad in his Backdraft racer, one of the Cobra replicas that are handbuilt for export in Prospecton. Ten Wheels readers stand a chance to win a set of five double tickets to see more of the same during to the penultimate round of the KZN Road Racing Club championship at the Dezzi Raceway on Saturday. A full field of 32 modified cars made up of local and visiting drivers from Gauteng will jostle for space heading into turn one aka ‘Sardine Corner’. A number of riders from around the country will also be racing in the classic and historic motorcycles classes, from Motard to the popular breakfast run for 1000 and 600 cc bikes. The Car classes range from Super GTs to retro cars. The pits are open to the public and practice gets under way at 7.20 am with the first race around 10.30 am. For a chance to win just answer how many more rounds are left in the KZN Road Racing Club championship? Send your answer to alwyn.viljoen@witness.co.za. PHOTO: KZN ROAD RACING
pledged in the 2015 Paris Agree ment. DNV GL forecasts gas will overtake oil as the world’s big gest energy source by 2034, a trend that is reflected in an in vestment shift at major oil com panies towards new gas projects. This thinking underpinned, for example, Royal Dutch Shell’s $54 billion takeover of BG Group last year. Renewable energy sources will account for 85% of global elec tricity production by 2050. — Reuters.
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