Durban - Solomon Mahlangu (Edwin Swales or M7) Drive has claimed another motorcycle victim resulting in the biking community labelling that stretch of road deadly, blaming negligent and aggressive drivers and truck oil spills.
There have been three deaths as well as 11 crashes, all within a year, according to the community. The road runs between Rossburgh and Pinetown. The most recent casualty is Brenton Swaine, 34, a father of two, including a five-day-old baby, who died when he lost control of his motorbike this week on the M7.
Paramedics responding to the scene said Swaine’s body was lying motionless in the slow lane of the highway, while his motorbike lay 20 metres away from him. He died on the scene.
In August, a biker was killed when his motorbike collided with a truck in Durban on the M7 Pinetown bound. The truck driver was not injured in the collision.
And in July, Hester Viljoen, 46, was killed while riding as a passenger on her partners motorbike on the M7. The bike was hit by a truck veering into oncoming traffic, and then was hit by another truck.
The driver and Viljoen were flung from the bike and Viljoen was run over.
Leon Thompson, president of His Kingdom Riders, the motorbike club to which Swaine belonged, described him as “an awesome young man”.
“I knew him for over three years. He was an all-round good guy and left a lasting impression on anyone he met. He touched so many lives. He was such a giving guy, he would literally take the shirt off his back for someone in need.”
The club had a memorial ride in honour of Swaine on Saturday.
“We wanted to pay our respects to him. A few bikers got together to celebrate his life through the ride. His family is still arranging his funeral.”
Thompson said Swaine’s girlfriend was taking his death badly.
“He has two sons, one is five days old. It’s a tragedy,” he said. “There needs to be safety awareness, especially on the M7. Too many people don’t check before crossing lanes and drivers have become very negligent. We try to be as polite as possible and courteous on the roads, but I have had drivers shouting at me. Road rage and intolerance of other drivers is increasing.”
He said spillage of diesel and oil by trucks on the M7 is another problem. “If you drive on that oil spill, there is very little friction between your tyre and the road and you will come off your bike. Enforcement on the roads is too slack.”
President of the Kings Motorcycle Club Andries Van Der Walt, to which Viljoen belonged, said the “M7 is the worst (road) at the moment. There have been so many accidents with most ending in fatalities. I was travelling on the same stretch the night before the accident and the lighting was a nightmare – you couldn’t see what was ahead of you.
“When I was riding my bike on Wednesday night, I felt an oily substance hit my visor. This was very close to the area where the accident happened.”
Van der Walt said the route was commonly used by trucks and was not patrolled enough by the metro and the Road Traffic Inspectorate.
“Trucks labour up the Bellville hill, especially near the off-ramp, and because the weigh bridge near Bayhead is no longer operational, who is weighing these trucks to ensure they don’t overload?
“These trucks also tend to spill oil. I have been riding a motorbike since I was 17 and the roads are just not safe. I constantly warn my guys to drive carefully and look after themselves, as the M7, especially, is becoming a death trap,” he said.
“I have attended lots of accident scenes and estimate there have been about 11 along that particular stretch in the past year, ranging from scooters to superbikes.”
Police spokesman Captain Thulani Zwane said a case of culpable homicide was being investigated by the Malvern police.
Sunday Tribune