This is the question asked by the chairperson of Eratira Village, Ron Westaway.
“The number of vehicles that have ended up being mounted on the traffic island at the Trichardts and View Point West roads T-junction is uncountable,” said Westaway.
“Just during the past three months, about five vehicles had to be towed from this island.”
The complex is situated on the mentioned corner and, according to him, vehicles have also found their way through the complex’s security wall after crashing into the traffic island.
“Every time this happens, we have to go to our insurance company and pay the excess,” said Westaway.
In his opinion the accidents are possibly caused by the lack of signage warning motorist driving down View Point West Road towards Trichardts Road of the traffic island ahead.
“Why doesn’t the municipality do something constructive to make motorists aware of the island?”
“Those little corrugations in View Point West Road don’t help. They can put reflectors on the kerb of the island.”
“There’s also no indication of a stop sign at the T-junction and the road markings have faded. Even trucks have gone over the island.”
Westaway said these accidents normally occur around midnight and early in the morning.
The Advertiser visited the site, where signs of motor vehicle accidents are evident. The kerb around the traffic island has been knocked by motorists possibly multiple times and there are broken vehicle parts lying around, as well as oil marks on the road.
Linda van Wyk is one of the homeowners whose property has been affected by the vehicles that have crashed into the complex’s wall.
“One of the vehicles nearly landed in our swimming pool and the impact of another accident caused structural damage to our bedroom,” said Van Wyk.
The unmarked traffic island is a real concern to these residents.
Apparently, the vehicle that has landed the furthest from the island after crashing into it was about 50m away, which is close to the entrance to Eratira Village.
“Someone could be wiped out by these accidents,” said Westaway.
“We’ve lost count of how many vehicles have crashed into the island.”
The Advertiser has sent a list of pertinent questions to the metro, including whether council will implement measures to make the traffic island more visible to motorists.
No response was obtained at the time of going to press.
