Does this spell relief for Cape Town drivers driven round the bend?
Image: City of Cape Town
Afternoon commuters negotiating the daily maelstrom of Hospital Bend in Cape Town may notice something different on Wednesday.
Traffic cops will be stopping vehicles crossing solid white lines from the right of the road to the left to see if it has any impact on congestion.
On Thursday‚ they will monitor congestion while letting the daily anarchy unfold without intervening.
JP Smith‚ the City of Cape Town mayoral committee member for safety and security‚ said the experiment had been prompted by complaints about the behaviour of minibus taxi drivers‚ and the impact it had on travelling times for other road users.
“During the last four operations focusing on Nelson Mandela Boulevard and Hospital Bend‚ officers have issued 656 fines and impounded two taxis for operating without the requisite documentation‚ or in contravention of their operating permit‚” he said.
“Some of the most common transgressions include disobeying channelising lines‚ overtaking on the shoulder of the roadway‚ unlicensed drivers‚ cutting in after passing‚ overloading‚ failure to wear safety belts and using cellphones while driving.”
On Wednesday‚ he said‚ “we are testing whether preventing vehicles from crossing the solid white [channelling] lines and blocking traffic improves traffic flow”.
Smith added: “CCTV is tracking the time it takes selected vehicles to move from CBD [District Six pedestrian bridge] to the bottom of Hospital Bend. We will repeat this experiment again to get a spread of test results with and without enforcement.”