Life in the fast lane

It's known as the death stretch; about half a kilometre of tar on which many have lost their lives - and many more have almost met their maker.

A lot more people will lose their lives unless traffic lights - or speed humps or stop signs - are erected to slow down all those speeding motorists.

The speed limit is not respected.

The short stretch of Rev Frederick Modise Drive (formerly Vincent Road) between Heald and Van Onselen roads, in Zone7, Meadowlands, Soweto, is an accident being permitted to happen daily.

The residents sound ungrateful when they complain about their "beautiful" road - what with some fellow South Africans in other parts of the country without toilets or tap water. They fear their complaints might be misunderstood because, just down the road, in Braamfischerville, an RDP settlement, a tarred road is a rarity.

But is a death road better than no road at all?

The residents whose houses are on either side of the Rev Frederick Modise Drive have seen it all: cars dangling on trees, dead bodies, gruesome injuries, you name it.

Some have been woken in the middle of the night by cars screeching to a halt in their yard.

Others have left home for work or to visit relatives only to return to find that a part of their house has been rammed - and the person responsible for the damage is nowhere to be found.

This 500m or so stretch of road has a curve, which make it difficult for people on the other side of the road to see what is happening in the opposite direction. And, with no speed humps, backing out of one's yard into the road requires a great leap of faith.

It is a busy road; it is used by pupils of the four schools in the vicinity, and the shops are on the other side on Van Onselen Road.

The residents acknowledge that the two-lane road is a great improvement on the single-lane, potholed road they used before. However, some T-junctions have been removed completely.

The reason for this was that the many intersections made it easy for criminals to evade the police during a car chase. So, a thin, skewed barrier stands where a short-left turn or right turn could previously be made.

The residents had hoped that there would be more stop signs, zebra crossings and speed humps to reduce the frequency of accidents on the road, many of which involve motorists and pedestrians.

Instead, the law-breakers have been given space to continue to wreak havoc. And jaywalkers have the excuse that the robots are too far apart.

What is the point of replacing one death stretch with an even worse, deadlier stretch?

With so many schools in the vicinity, would it hurt the budget to put a few speed humps and pedestrian crossings on Rev Frederick Modise Drive to reduce fatal accidents?

This is the problem I have with most of our roads.

They are made for cars: most traffic lights indicate right-of-way for cars and pedestrians have to negotiate their way past cars that are turning left or right.

But people use roads too. Isn't a good road one constructed to meet the needs of most of the people, whether motorists, pedestrians, cyclists, motorcyclists, bus drivers or taxi drivers?

This road in Meadowlands is one of many that was not designed to take the needs and concerns of the people to heart.

The pavements are disappearing - and cyclists' lanes on the pavement are just a dream.

Our roads are friendly only to motorists.