The latest crash statistics show that while Cape Town’s hungriest bridge still enjoys the odd snack, incidents of trucks getting stuck have significantly decreased.
Nicknamed “Bridget” and “Biddy” by the Muizenburg community, the infamous bridge became less hazardous when the City’s Urban Mobility Directorate installed a 3D laser height monitoring sensor system in 2016. Installed 150m from the intersection with Atlantic Road, the sensor works to reduce the number of trucks getting stuck under the Muizenberg bridge.
The latest crash stats reported by the City of Cape Town fall in Transport Month. The city hopes the report will help to demonstrate Cape Town’s transport successes.
Using an infrared laser beam to measure the height of oncoming vehicles and their load, the sensor system includes Variable Message Signs (VMS) and flashing lights. When an infrared laser detects a truck higher than 2.5 meters from the road, the VMS will initiate 30 seconds of flashing lights and an LED signboard will warn the truck not to drive underneath the bridge.
The latest crash statistics signal encouragement for the sensor:
- Reported crash data has shown a marked decrease in bridge collisions.
- The number of crashes at the Atlantic Road bridge dropped from 43 in 2020 to 26 in 2021 and 9 in 2022.
The report shows that the occurrence of incidents involving trucks colliding with the bridge has not been eliminated.
Councillor Quintas reports: “The critical factor remains for drivers of heavy-duty vehicles to be aware of their vehicle height and to pay attention to the signage. Interestingly, three years ago we stopped 24 truck drivers and asked them if they knew the height of their trucks. To our surprise, none of them knew. This explains why we had such a high number of incidents. The onus is still on the drivers to adhere to the warnings if triggered.”
Since the instalment of the system, the Western Cape’s roads have approximately 30% more trucks than 10 years ago. This statistic shows that now with less than 1 incident per month the situation has seen drastic improvement. Even so, negligence that results in any incidents poses a threat to other drivers, pedestrians and people sleeping underneath the bridge.
Picture: Pexels
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Picture: Pexels