The tragic death of an elderly pedestrian has reignited community demands for urgent safety measures on a notorious stretch of road in Central.
On 8 October, Nicholas Nel died after a vehicle struck him in Western Road, dubbed the “highway to hell”. In honour of his memory and to call for safer streets, Ward 5 Councillor Terri Stander laid flowers at the accident site on Tuesday, 18 November.
“An elderly gentleman tragically lost his life while crossing Western Road, directly in front of Cuyler Holmes,” she shared.
Stander has dubbed Western Road the “highway to hell” due to the alleged speeding and traffic infringements occurring in the street. Nel, who lived at Cuyler Holmes old-age home, was one of many elderly residents who regularly cross the street to run errands or visit the nearby shops.
Stander explained that Nel, who struggled to walk, was allegedly walking slowly as he tried to cross the street. “He tried to cross the road and a car came from the High Court side, and unfortunately, he was hit,” said Stander. “He was bleeding from his head and his ears and was taken away by ambulance but sadly passed away.”
Last week, Stander gathered with local residents to petition for speed bumps to make Western Road safer for elderly residents, students and all pedestrians.
“On the Cuyler Holmes side of Western Road there is no stop street and no traffic lights, only a yield sign,” Stander explained. “On the other side of Western Road, there are two traffic lights and a pedestrian crossing and the complaints are that when the pedestrian button is pushed, a red-light flash, but it’s still not making cars stop.”
She added that there was a general disregard across the country when it comes to pedestrian crossings, where motorists believe they have the right of way.
“Pedestrians often also don’t know how to use a pedestrian crossing,” says Stander. “They are crossing all over the place, which is dangerous. Education around pedestrian crossings is essential, specifically for Western Road. There need to be stop streets or traffic lights on all four corners.”
She pointed out that the intersection was especially dangerous and challenging for the elderly.
“There are also complaints of people not adhering to stop streets, motorists who are disregarding pedestrian crossings and inadequate enforcement across the ward.”
Stander further led a petition to be handed to the Roads Department for speed hump consideration. “My community has asked for these speed humps.”
According to Stander, speed humps cost in the range of R75,000 each.
“It is important for residents to know that if they want a speed hump in their street, they need at least 50 per cent of signatures from the residents living in the road to be handed to the Roads Department.”
Stander has, in the meantime requested that traffic officials conduct monitoring and enforcement along Western Road.
