Driver in critical condition after truck crash

A truck driver survived a head-on collision with another truck on Sir Lowry’s Pass on Tuesday.

The driver was driving his heavy-duty truck down the N2 shortly before 2pm, but lost control of the vehicle as he approached the left-turning hairpin bend, for which the pass has become notorious over the years. 

The City of Cape Town’s traffic spokesman, Richard Coleman, said it appeared the truck had flipped on to its side, unable to make the turn, and had slid down the highway into another truck travelling up the pass, and also a bakkie. 

Emergency services were on the scene shortly and cut the driver free from the wreckage of his truck. His condition was described by an emergency worker as critical. 

He was taken to hospital but an update on his condition was not immediately available. 

The drivers of the second truck and the bakkie were slightly injured and were seen to at the scene.

Traffic in both directions was slowed by a “stop-go” operation, while heavy trucks and machinery were used to clear the highway. 

* Meanwhile, at the opening of a new road in Limpopo on Tuesday, President Jacob Zuma said recklessness on South African roads was costing the country billions. 

“At least 14 000 people die on our roads every year and 46 percent of these are pedestrians,” he said.

He was speaking at the opening of the new R81 road which links Polokwane and Giyani. 

“Breadwinners are taken away from their families… Our economy bleeds at least R306 billion every year.

“We have invested R245 million in the construction of the R81, which will make it easier to move people and goods between Polokwane and Giyani,” Zuma said. 

The Capricorn and Mopani district municipalities and the Polokwane local municipality would all benefit from the new road. 

Zuma said another road, the R71 linking Polokwane and Tzaneen, was under construction. 

It is used by Zion Christian Church members during their pilgrimages, and leads to the Kruger National Park.

“We want to create this infrastructure that makes life easy everywhere, not just in the big cities,” Zuma said. 

South Africa had 750 000km of roads and the government spent about R10bn annually to service and retar them, Zuma said. 

Culled from  www.iol.co.za