Cats might have nine lives, but three Durban motorists have proved to be even more resilient.
The three drivers, whose names have not been released, were each involved in 19 car accidents between 2000 and 2003 and lived to tell the tale.
The eThekwini Transport Authority has identified the trio as Durban's most accident-prone drivers.
Deputy head Logan Moodley said the transport body had conducted a four-year study to establish which drivers were constantly in accidents, and three names repeatedly came up. They then profiled these and other chronic accident-causing drivers.
| 'It gives us the moral high ground to withdraw their driver's licence' |
An examination of accident records also showed that 15 percent of all drivers involved in accidents in Durban had been involved in at
least one other accident during the same period. This translated into 37 976 drivers who had been in more than one accident in four years.
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Alarmingly, the study also showed that 181 drivers in the eThekwini municipal area had been in 10 or more accidents over the four-year period.
Moodley said that only accident reports in which the details of the drivers reflected valid identity numbers had been considered for
the purpose of the study.
The traffic authority would not release the identities of those drivers involved in multiple accidents.
Provincial Road Traffic Inspectorate director John Schnell said that the report had provided details on specific causes of accidents, which the inspectorate could use to profile people involved in numerous accidents.
Schnell said the Road Traffic Act allowed for people who had multiple accidents to undergo a medical evaluation and competency test to determine if they were fit to drive. This would include eyesight and hand-eye co-ordination tests.
"If they fail either the medical or competency test, for whatever reason, then it gives us the moral high ground to withdraw their driver's licence," he said.
People who were identified and subjected to this process would know they were under close scrutiny and, therefore, they were likely to drive more carefully, Schnell said.
Arrive Alive spokesperson Wendy Watson said the minister of transport in KwaZulu-Natal had the power to seize a vehicle if it could be proved that a person was continuously negligent.
- This article was originally published on page 1 of The Mercury on May 03, 2005
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