212 k.p.h. in a 60 k.p.h. zone (South Africa)

[Zeptepi]

Some dude up in Gauteng Province was caught doing 212 kph in a 60 zone. Thrown in the jug for the night and will automatically have his car impounded. Should appear in court this morning.

No wonder we have 900 people dead on our roads already this December and this number should top 1000 by the end of the month.

We had one instance where a Toyota Hi Ace that in Europe is licensed to carry 10 passengers but are modified in South Africa to carry 18 was involved in a head on collision with a truck. 30 people were killed in this one accident alone and it was found that the taxi was actually carrying 37 passengers.

Taxi was speeding down a hill and when he came to navigate the bend at the bottom the overloaded Toyota could not be steered and went head on into the truck.

It is not even law to have seat belts in these taxis.

[Dave Hedgehog]

Thats me taking it easy in the morning, id probably be texting whilst drinking my first cup of java in my defense

[Pints]

These statistics are, as usual, sobering.
But every year the Arrive Alive campaigns are dusted off and money wasted on what is clearly ineffective advertising.
We know the problems, what are the solutions?

[lance1a]

I once saw a Hi-ace taxi (as usual fitted out to accomodate 18 people in a SWB van) that had snapped in half whilst driving. The snap caused the chassis of the taxi to dig into the ground and stop the vehicle right in the middle of the Durban intersection the guy was running only to be T boned by a truck. The middle of the taxi was 18cm wide after the collision. No one got out. The lack of MOT's and the high prices of cars in SA force taxi owners to make the most of what they have. In a lot of cases this means cut and shut, dodgy welding and some of the most dangerous repairs you could think of (Eg: Taxi stopped because the brakes were smoking ....turns out someone had sold the guy brake pads made from MDF).
In a business where the competition is shot to get new routes moving as many people in as economical way as possible is the only requirement.

[R12HCO]

I think its just the vast majority of people dont have the education/brain power to understand who to drive in a decent manor - not overall speed. granted 212 in a 60 is abit OTT!

[OdramaSwimLaden]

Try driving in Lagos; insurance doesn't exist. If you crash you have to sort it out between the parties. The standard of driving is right down there with most of Africa.

[eldar]

I lived in South Africa 30 years ago, even then they had campaigns trying to keep the December road deaths to below a thousand, and usually failing. Still lunatic drivers it seems.

[Zeptepi]

You probably heard that they want to drop the speed limit to 100 kph for all vehicles to stop the road carnage. The taxis don't adhere to the present speed limit of 120 so why should the authorities think that they should obey the 100 kph limit. I believe that it will cause more accidents as the taxis now will have much slower / law abiding motorists to overtake on corners and double white lines.

The answer is for government to fit speed limiters to all taxis set at 80 kph and if these are tampered with, immediate impound of the vehicle. They could also enforce the fitting and wearing of seat belts in taxis.

[Willy Nilly]

Zeptepi said:

You probably heard that they want to drop the speed limit to 100 kph for all vehicles to stop the road carnage. The taxis don't adhere to the present speed limit of 120 so why should the authorities think that they should obey the 100 kph limit. I believe that it will cause more accidents as the taxis now will have much slower / law abiding motorists to overtake on corners and double white lines.

The answer is for government to fit speed limiters to all taxis set at 80 kph and if these are tampered with, immediate impound of the vehicle. They could also enforce the fitting and wearing of seat belts in taxis.

Speed doesn't kill, it's bad driving that kills

[Lord_Howit_Hertz]

Without sounding morbid etc, but per capita how do these 'death tolls' compare to other countries, say, UK for example?

[Pints]

Lord_Howit_Hertz said:

Without sounding morbid etc, but per capita how do these 'death tolls' compare to other countries, say, UK for example?

SA has c. 50 million inhabitants.

[Tallbut Buxomly]

Hi ace aah how i loved the old jokes.


As for catnt afford to buy decent taxis dont kid yourself. There was drive to get the old ones off the road and new ones to replace them where the government would subsidise the purchase of the taxis and take the old vehicle in exchange however most taxi drivers decided it was going to lose them more money than they risked so refused.

As for not being equipped with seatbelts how the hell would that be enforced when they riot and so on every time the law does something they dont like.

SA african taxis a law unto themselves.

[Mr Obertshaw]

I'll try and post a video up later from my trip in a Toyota Hi ace in Malawi last week. I think there were about 25 of us, but that doesn't include the chickens, goats and fish!