60 Km per hour from bridge to Cape St Francis?
Driving on the R330 from St Francis Bay towards Cape St Francis you may notice that a new 60Km signboard has replaced the 100km sign just after the de Bruyn boatyard. The combination of speed and farm animals straying across the road create an ever present danger so it is good to know that the Provincial Roads Department has heeded requests for reduced traffic speed signs to be erected opposite Sea Vista.
Now this is the good news and hopefully will reduce the chances of a terrible accident in the future, but then again only if drivers abide by the law which one can almost guarantee the majority of us will not, especially if the following is not changed.
After the new 60Km signboard there is no sign thereafter advising motorists travelling south that they can increase their speed to 100Km. In fact the very next speed sign drivers will see is the 60Km sign just before entering Cape St Francis followed after a short distance later by a 40Km sign at the first speed hump. In essence this means the legal speed limit from just after the temporary bridge, past the circle at the Links, right up to the speed hump at the entrance to Cape St Francis, is 60Km and thereafter it drops to 40Km. Hopefully this will be corrected soon or those living in Cape St Francis but working in St Francis Bay or further, will have a long slow drive home each evening if they stick to the letter of the law.
Ironically travelling from Cape St Francis northwards, nothing has changed and the first 60Km zone is only posted just before the Tarragona Road turnoff to Sea Vista so the dangers of speed, straying animals and pedestrians remain. Surely reducing the speed limit a little way before the township is as critical from this direction.
According to Nigel Aitken who motivated the Roads Department to a relatively quick response to the request for the change of speed signs, this may be an oversight and hopefully they will be returning to complete the job. Let’s hope this is the case for if not, this section of road could boost traffic fine income significantly should they decide to carry out a few speed traps in the coming days or weeks.
Now the following won’t please all readers and no doubt will attract a few comments but some things need to stated. If we all followed the law to a tee, a la the majority of Australian citizens, South Africa would be a far better place to live. We all know this is not about to happen and unlikely to change in the next 100 years or more. But where possible, surely responsible citizens should at all times try and respect the laws of the road particularly with regard to speed and particularly the speed opposite Sea Vista if nowhere else.
We will shake our fists (or maybe ZAP signs) and curse an errant mini taxi cab driver or other road user for breaking the road laws but will then go on and break those self-same laws ourselves with nary a thought. We are all guilty, watch how many people stop at stop street in St Francis Bay. How many people ignore the NO Stopping signs on the R330 adjacent Sea Vista and how many of us drive without seat belts. Possibly we can be forgiven for breaking these these in our tiny enclave but the big one and possibly the very worst indiscretion, talking or texting on a cell phone whilst driving. This should be a no-no no matter where we live. It is downright dangerous!
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