What motorists need to know about Cape Town’s traffic congestion
For the second time in a row Cape Town was named South Africa’s most congested city, earlier this month (August 2016).
Also read: Cape Town ranked most traffic congested city in SA, again
Motorists and traffic officials have expressed their frustrations and as you’d expect there’s been much outrage from the public over the state of Cape Town’s traffic jams.
Last week, congestion seems to peak at around 4pm when travelling out of the CBD. According to IOL news, traffic jams started on the corner of Strand and Buitengracht street where motorists began blocking intersections as they inched forward.
“Cars attempting to turn right from Buitengracht into Strand Street towards Sea Point, in turn, had to weave their way through –or even between – cars blocking their way,” said IOL news.
A Mayoral committee member for transport called the blocking of intersections “grossly inconsiderate” while safety and security members reminded motorists that crossing an intersection is only allowed if you’re able to cross it all the way through.
In light of Cape Town’s traffic dramas, we’d like to remind motorists of the following to help ease the tension:
- It is illegal to stop at an intersection. As previously mentioned, a motorist may not enter into an intersection if they are not able to fully cross it in the first place. It doesn’t matter if there are five other cars doing it, those five cars could all be fined and so could you if you do the same.
- “A single car with one occupant can delay a bus with 50 or more passengers, and disrupt the service time schedule,” said Brett Herron, Mayoral committee member for transport. Don’t be one of them.
- Pushing into another lane while everyone else has been patiently waiting is one of the most aggravating factors of traffic jams, and it’s not just the taxis that are doing it. More and more impatient motorists are seen cutting across at the very last second, which significantly worsens the delay.
- If you have colleagues who live in your area consider ride sharing and carpool options to help lessen the amount of cars on the road.
- Make sure your vehicle is roadworthy, has enough fuel and able to cope with long amounts of time spent in neutral and low speeds in traffic. Breaking down on an already congested road is a recipe for disaster.
- It’s incredibly tough to stay calm and to be patient, but if everyone followed the regular rules of the road instead of blocking intersections and cutting into lanes, it can ease the tension and stop further delay.