Pinetown crash...... :(

Banelight

Banelight

New member
Hi guys,

not sure if this is posted somewhere.....but this is so sad...

http://www.news24.com/SouthAfrica/News/Pinetown-road-deaths-shock-presidency-20130905

and somehow...we have footage of this... WARNING : Not for faint hearted...although you dont really see the people, you see the accident happening...apparently the guy who filmed was on his phone...so was slow in taking off...saved his life...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fYQJ-e2A0qc

So sad...no respect for human life on the roads....its getting out of hand...!
 
PINETOWN DRIVER ARRESTED

The driver of the truck that crashed into four minibus taxis and a car in Field's Hill, Pinetown, has been arrested, KwaZulu-Natal police said on Friday.

"He has been charged with culpable homicide, and reckless and negligent driving," said Colonel Vincent Mdunge.

"The details of the accident are still being investigated, so we cannot draw any conclusions at this stage."

Twenty-seven people were killed in Thursday evening's accident; 24 died on the scene and three others in hospital, he said.

KwaZulu-Natal transport MEC Willies Nchunu's spokesman Kwanele Ncalane, said the driver was being held at the Pinetown police station.

Nchunu would also ask prosecutors to check whether it was possible to also have the transport company charged, said Ncalane.

KwaZulu-Natal Road Traffic Inspectorate spokeswoman Zinhle Mngomezulu said on Thursday evening that the Pinetown accident occurred when the brakes failed on the truck belonging to Evergreen Transport.

Transport Minister Dipuo Peters has ordered a high-level investigation into the crash and will visit the accident scene on Friday morning.

The accident occurred when the articulated truck hit four fully-laden taxis and a Volkswagen Golf on the corners of Fields Hill (M13) and Richmond roads in Pinetown shortly before 7pm.


Source : Sapa
 
yeah hectic shit....

As for gunning for orange robot...doubt it...light was green for about 5 seconds before the truck came thru there....

I have seen the vid so many times...as Im the only one with youtube access as IT
 
Heard an ex-truck driver comment on the radio this morning that a lot of these accidents happen because truck drivers aren't trained properly. Apparently they do not use their gearbox for engine braking but use their brakes, which heat up, become useless and are not at your disposal when you really need them.

Very sad though.

<rant>

What is also sad are the comments on that video. Why people feel the need to start a "religious" war there nobody knows. So fekking WHAT if the woman commented a prayer. What is it to you you fekking chop!

</rant>
 
I hope they charge the transport company as well... Put them out of business as a cautionary tale to others.
 
ViperGTI said:
I hope they charge the transport company as well... Put them out of business as a cautionary tale to others.
Click to expand...

If the company has a history with crashes. Else why put a whole company out of business and people out of jobs because one idiot can't drive.
 
ViperGTI said:
I hope they charge the transport company as well... Put them out of business as a cautionary tale to others.
Click to expand...

But this is one guy, why should hundreds of people lose their jobs because one guy stuffed up. You can get them into the case to claim damages but you can't kill a company from this and place countless families on the street from this.

Maybe if the company negligently failed those people by knowingly placing an unroadworthy truck on the road then we can start calling for their end but we can't say that's true yet.
 
Holy crap, that video is horrible. This story just ruined my day. :(

The thing I don't quite understand is why didn't anyone see the truck coming? I don't know what the right side of the intersection looks like, but I've made a habit of always checking both left and right before I pull away at a traffic light. Unless the truck was simply obscured from view until it was too late or something.

The sad part is this won't change anything. Truck drivers simply do not give a crap about other road users. It seems many of them make a game out of endangering other people on the road. I've been in multiple situations where truck drivers indicate to me that I can pass them, just for me to almost get hit by traffic coming from the front. I don't trust them at all nowadays.

- - - Updated - - -

Banelight said:
Just head on radio that the truck license was expired.....smells like negligence on a few fronts...
Click to expand...

If that's true, it probably means the truck was not declared roadworthy either, so I sincerely hope the company is hit with giant fines.
 
Hamster said:
Heard an ex-truck driver comment on the radio this morning that a lot of these accidents happen because truck drivers aren't trained properly. Apparently they do not use their gearbox for engine braking but use their brakes, which heat up, become useless and are not at your disposal when you really need them.

Very sad though.

<rant>

What is also sad are the comments on that video. Why people feel the need to start a "religious" war there nobody knows. So fekking WHAT if the woman commented a prayer. What is it to you you fekking chop!

</rant>
Click to expand...

Welcome to Youtube and the Internet bro.

Most of the youtube videos are all littered with religious bible bashing like that.

As for the video, sad stuff :( I don't really know what to say. This country and planet is just getting worse by the day. The fact that our government just shrugs it off so lightly is just as alarming as the video itself.
 
Could someone explain to me how failing brakes lead to a charge of "reckless and negligent driving"?:confused:

That being said...we really need our traffic authorities to pull their thumbs out of their asses and do something about unroadworthy rust-buckets...instead of spending all their time collecting cash from merc drivers.
 
HavocXphere said:
Could someone explain to me how failing brakes lead to a charge of "reckless and negligent driving"?:confused:

That being said...we really need our traffic authorities to pull their thumbs out of their asses and do something about unroadworthy rust-buckets...instead of spending all their time collecting cash from merc drivers.
Click to expand...

Improper driving leads to overheating brakes, which then expands so much that they don't even touch the friction material, in effect giving absolutely no braking power whatsoever. Essentially what happened with the spate of runaway trucks in Pta around 2005-2006. The correct way of braking a truck on a downhill section is to put the vehicle in to a lower gear, so that the engine brakes the vehicle.
 
Avatar said:
Improper driving leads to overheating brakes, which then expands so much that they don't even touch the friction material, in effect giving absolutely no braking power whatsoever. Essentially what happened with the spate of runaway trucks in Pta around 2005-2006. The correct way of braking a truck on a downhill section is to put the vehicle in to a lower gear, so that the engine brakes the vehicle.
Click to expand...
Interesting, but not really relevant unless there is some hint suggesting that the above might have occurred. e.g. Thats a traffic light...were not exactly talking mountain pass with kilometers of heavy braking.

I totally get that your scenario is possible. But so is simple mechanical failure. You can't just arrest someone on the off chance that one of the possible scenarios is reckless.

Maybe the cops known something that isn't in the article. Who knows. All I'm saying is those charges seem mighty sketchy based on what little we know.
 
HavocXphere said:
Interesting, but not really relevant unless there is some hint suggesting that the above might have occurred. e.g. Thats a traffic light...were not exactly talking mountain pass with kilometers of heavy braking.
Click to expand...

Um, that is the at the bottom of Field's Hill, so yes it is 1-2km of downhill.
 
Wow. What a way to go prob didn't even feel it. That blue car just vanished. Stupid motherfer who was driving.
 
MOnk said:
Um, that is the at the bottom of Field's Hill, so yes it is 1-2km of downhill.
Click to expand...
I see. I'll concede all relevant points then.

Still don't think it lines up though. Think about it from a driver's perspective. He has grade 10 qualification. Used to be a gardener
[*]. Got instructions to make the trip in 3 hours or lose the job supporting his 7 children. Solid guy as he might be - do you really think this guy is going to inspect the brakes? Assuming he would think of inspecting the brakes, could he do so? Nope. And now he gets charged for culpable homicide?

* OT / story time. This one day a truck rocks up at our house. I was like 14 y/o...so exciting stuff... Turns out the driver used to be my dad's gardener. My dad decided that this guy learns fast & sent him for him to test for a commercial trucking license. This being pre 1994...respect++ for dad.
 
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