The number of violent and criminal incidents on the N2 has been dramatically reduced since the recent establishment of a priority committee.

This was according to a statement issued by Community Safety MEC Dan Plato, Cape Town mayoral committee member for safety and security JP Smith, Transport and Public Works MEC Donald Grant and Sanral’s Randall Cable.

They said all agencies involved had increased their efforts to improve safety on the highway. Community interest groups, police and the Airports Company South Africa (Acsa) were also involved in the development of the integrated action plan.

Among the initiatives was an increase in the number of law enforcement officers on the N2, which was monitored at all hours. Eleven vehicles and 16 officers monitor the national road between 06:00 and 20:00, 13 vehicles and 21 officers between 20:00 and 23:30 and 12 vehicles and 20 officers between 23:30 and 06:00.

Senior personnel were also currently being deployed to coordinate operations at the Joint Operations Centre in Goodwood.

Bait vehicles used to lure would-be criminals

“The JOC is under the command of a single agency at any one time, and agencies take turns to be in command,” the statement read. A number of would-be criminals were also drawn out by law enforcement officers through the use of bait vehicles. The area causing the biggest headache was the 26km stretch between the Firgrove off-ramp and Jakes Gerwel Drive.

According to Sanral, 3 423 incidents were recorded between May and September. Of these, nearly 88% (3 011) were linked to stationary vehicles along the N2, less than 10% (295) involved accidents, and 1% (38) were criminal incidents.The rest involved animals on the freeway, fires, lost loads and protest action.

Sanral made use of CCTV technology, such as thermal cameras and pedestrian detection cameras, for faster identification and reaction on the highway. “During the last week in review, there were 227 incidents – two animal crossings, five crime-related incidents, 16 crashes and 204 incidents involving stationary vehicles.

“Known causes for the stationary vehicles were 38 incidents of motorists who ran out of petrol; 32 had mechanical failure; 20 pulled over to use a cellphone; 18 stopped to drop off goods or people; and 12 had flat tyres,” the agencies said.

Stopping on a freeway is illegal and motorists caught could be fined, they warned. -News24

Source: News 24 wire