Durban - Driver “development parks”, where novice learner drivers can be taken off Durban’s roads while they learn the basics, are being planned by the eThekwini Municipality.
These parks would be equipped with offices for driving schools, lecture rooms and driving simulators. They would also be used to provide municipal and minibus taxi drivers with “refresher” and specialised driver training.
The concept was presented on Tuesday by the head of eThekwini Transport Authority (ETA), Thami Manyathi, to members of the city’s Human Settlements and Infrastructure Committee.
Manyathi said the city had identified two pilot sites: the Warwick node (small vehicles), and next to Edgewood College in Pinetown (small and large vehicles).
The report presented to councillors on Tuesday by the ETA said the municipality was battling with the mushrooming of driving schools that clogged the road network “at any time of the day, and any how”.
“Besides clogging up the roads, their use of any parking lots, municipal grounds, private property and municipal parks for their learner tuition, results in a number of reported cases of trespassing.
CLOGGING UP THE STREETS
“The unchecked growth in driving schools has resulted in numerous driving school vehicle accidents and breakdowns on key or busy routes. These vehicles also contribute to traffic congestion and encroach on pavements and thus impact negatively on the functioning of the city, and movement of pedestrians,” the report noted.
On Tuesday, Manyathi asked the city to approve R1.5 million to develop the financial model and “business case” for the driver parks. He said the parks would operate on the basis of driving schools paying a fee to use the facilities.
The concept was still in the infancy stage, he said, and needed to be “extensively negotiated” with driving schools. By-laws also needed to be drafted to govern the initiative.
TARGETED BY COPS?
In recent years, angry driving school operators have protested against the metro police who have targeted them for defective vehicles and using public parking bays in the city centre to operate their businesses.
Yesterday’s report said the driving parks would address the driving schools’ complaints.
The report suggested that the aggressive driving behaviour by some motorists may be associated with the kind and level of training and development they currently received.
“Inappropriate driving behaviour may also be associated with lack of infrastructural facilities for the driving school industry which may provide an enabling environment for good driving behaviour and promote a culture of professionalism,” the report noted.
In addition, the driving parks would transform public transport as thousands of minibus taxi drivers would be trained at the facilities which would have tracks for skills training – parking, reversing, turning and steep incline pull-off.
Driving simulators would be used for refresher sessions for experienced drivers and specialised training for professional public drivers.
The report said the classrooms and track could be used by the Provincial Road Traffic Inspectorate to conduct tests for learner and driving licences.
MUST BE ACCREDITED
However, driving schools that would be allowed to use the facilities would have to be accredited by the city and employ qualified instructors.
Pressed by ANC councillor, Judalene Mulqueeny, for when the driver training parks would be operational, Manyathi could not provide a time frame as negotiations still needed to conducted between various inter-municipal departments, driving schools and the provincial transport department, he said.
Cornelius Nzama, chairman of the Inner West Driving Schools Association and a member of a provincial government task team to regulate the industry, welcomed the initiative.
“Finally they are waking up,” he said. “For years we have been begging... for sometime now we have been having our vehicles impounded by the metro police and told that we are bush businesses. We are small businesses that want to do things the right way and within the law,” he said.
OTHER CITIES TO FOLLOW?
Stephen Roland, co-founder of road safety activist organisation, Drive More Safely, welcomed the initiative and hoped it would extend to other provinces and cities.
“Many young drivers are nervous, so having a place where they can learn the basics would be fantastic. It really is a great idea.”
He said learner drivers, at some point, needed to drive on the roads.
“It makes no sense for them to drive perfectly in the closed environment of the parks, but then freeze on the roads. There still needs to be time on the road. Nobody drives in a vacuum,” he said.
Daily News