The City of Johannesburg is treating complaints about faulty traffic lights, which have caused several accidents, with the ”utmost urgency”, it said on Monday.
”The overall safety of the citizens is a priority for the City of Johannesburg. We are committed to addressing this issue in an ongoing manner,” Johannesburg mayor Amos Masondo’s spokesperson Zandile Nkuta said.
This follows threats by motorists that they may take the city to court if it does not ensure that Johannesburg’s many defective traffic lights are repaired.
Nkuta confirmed that the mayor’s office has received a lawyer’s letter from the motorists about the city’s obligation to safeguard uncontrolled intersections and fix faulty traffic lights.
”The city is in contact with the … attorneys and will continue to engage with concerned residents,” she said.
Nkuta said the city is busy upgrading traffic lights and is spending R41,5-million in the current financial year (June 2004 to May 2005) on replacing underground cables, installing new traffic-signal controllers and replacing traffic-signal heads on arterial roads.
To date, work has started on main roads with huge traffic volumes. They include William Nicol Drive, Republic Road, Louis Botha Avenue, Booysens Road, Jan Smuts Avenue, Ontdekkers Road, Hendrik Verwoerd Road, Hans Strijdom Drive, Kliprivier Road and Kingsway.
She said the city is in discussions with relevant agencies such as the Johannesburg Roads Agency and the Johannesburg Metro Police on what further measures should be taken.
On Sunday, Hans Badenhorst, the lawyer for the concerned motorists, said it is likely that if he does not receive a response from the relevant authorities within the next week, a high court application will be brought.
He did not divulge how many motorists he represents at this stage, but a number of people have told him that if the matter goes to court they will support the application.
The four-page letter says the city council has a duty of care to road users to ensure that crossings are safeguarded and properly controlled. In the event of electrical devices failing, the council has a duty to provide alternative measures to regulate and safeguard such crossings.
The letter lists accidents resulting from faulty traffic lights, including the death of a child in Roodepoort in January. The traffic light was apparently defective for days despite this having been reported to city officials.
”My instructions are further that the city council should, in exercising its duty of care, act proactively and not merely in a reactional manner by rushing numerous metro police officers … to the scenes of collisions when those collisions could have and should have been prevented.”
The council should, when it becomes aware of faulty traffic lights at intersections, urgently deploy someone to do point duty, or it should place stop signs. — Sapa