The N3 outbound out of Pietermaritzburg, near Nottingham Road off ramp, has been closed to traffic after five consecutive accidents occurred earlier in the evening.

ER24 paramedics initially responded to an accident where two trucks and two cars had collided, leaving a large amount of debris on the road. Even though both cars were severely damaged, none of the occupants of any of the four vehicles had sustained any injury.

Within the next hour, paramedics responded to four more accidents, on the N3, within a kilometer of the first accident. Multiple trucks and multiple cars were involved, and again, despite severe impact and damage to the vehicles, miraculously there were no injuries reported on any of the scenes.

The highway did however, need to be closed for clean up operations, and the traffic was redirected onto the R103.

Within two hours of the first accident, and after the traffic had been redirected, ER24 paramedics responded to and accident on the R103 where a taxi had collided into the roadside barrier. Fortunately none of the occupants were seriously injured, but fifteen people were transported to hospital with minor to moderate injuries. Their injuries ranged from possible back and neck injuries to minor scrapes and bruises.

It remains unclear as to why the accidents had occurred and how long the N3 will be closed, but the necessary authorities are dealing with the situation.

Vanessa Jackson

ER24

Fourteen veld fires were raging in the Free State on Thursday, the department of agriculture, forestry and fisheries said.

“Five of then are rather big in size,” said departmental spokesperson Malcolm Procter.

The larger fires were raging near Sasolburg, along the N1 between Kroonstad and Sasolburg, between Paul Roux and Bethlehem, north of Kestell and another at Boesmanskop, north of Zastron.

Various other fires were reported near Viljoenskroon, Orkney and Potchefstroom.

Procter said an estimated 100 000 hectares of grazing had been destroyed in the Free State this season.

“Our annual average lies at 204 000 hectares and the conditions are very dry at the moment.”

Procter said a worrying factor in the current season was that nearly half of the hectares lost, some 40 000, were due to people burning fields in the hope of creating early grazing.

This happened mainly in the Qwaqwa area and the regions along the Lesotho border.

- SAPA

[Photos with recognition to Suze Steyl Photography]

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During the months of July and August this year ER24 received over 670 calls to the Emergency Contact Centre that were listed as prank calls. Over 340 calls were received from one specific caller and over 200 calls from another caller.

Pranksters phone the 084 124 emergency line and either swear at the Emergency Call Takers or play practical jokes over the phone, some of the pranksters only breath into the microphone on the other end of the line.

The prank calls range from annoying hang-ups to outright false calls or bomb threats. In most countries prank calls to emergency services or emergency lines are considered a criminal offence.

What pranksters don’t realise is that with our Forced Caller Line Identity we are able to view the number of the caller whilst the call is still in the que to be answered by an Emergency Call Taker. Once the number is recognised as a potential prank caller, the call taker alerts the floor supervisor and the voice recording is flagged for investigation. We have to treat every single call as a real emergency and resources must be dispatched if an address is given.

According to our voice recording and dispatch system some pranksters continue to phone the 084 124 emergency line up to 16 times per day. As an emergency line we cannot block the numbers in case the person has a real emergency which we have to act upon. However, each time a call is identified as a prank call, the caller’s telephone number is sent for follow up and the call is investigated according to internal policies. Once the investigation proves that the caller is a frequent prankster, the telephone number and other information are handed over for possible civil action.

One prank caller in particular keeps on phoning the emergency line to report a friend that had a heart attack. This caller reported similar cases over 60 times in one month. Each time the Emergency Medical Dispatcher treats the call as a real emergency when accurate details are given and an ambulance along with a rapid response vehicle is then sent to the location. However, every time an emergency vehicle arrives on the scene, there is no one at the address or it is an abandoned building.

A majority of the calls placed are from children laughing in the background or trying to sound like an adult. Once the Emergency Call Taker start to engage with the caller to enquire about medical information on the scene, the child either hangs up or starts laughing. In one particular case the Emergency Call Taker asked the child if there is an adult close by and the child handed the phone to his mother. The mother was shocked when she heard that the call taker was from ER24 and her child phoned the emergency line to fool around and she apologised profusely. Needless to say the child phoned multiple times afterwards.

ER24 takes all of its emergency calls seriously and our aim is to provide fast and efficient emergency medical care. Pranksters clogging up emergency lines will be dealt with in a serious matter.

Werner Vermaak
ER24

Thirteen Howick High School pupils were injured when their bus overturned on Wednesday, KwaZulu-Natal paramedics said.

The bus rolled 30 metres down an embankment after the driver lost control of it, possibly due to poor visibility, near the Kranzkloof Road around 6pm, ER24 spokesman Derrick Banks said in a statement.

Six boys were treated for possible neck and back injuries and multiple lacerations, while another four were treated for minor to moderate injuries and taken to Pietermaritzburg and Howick hospitals by ambulance. Another three boys were taken to hospital by their parents.

No other vehicle was involved. - Sapa

Two of the biggest problems currently in South Africa are unemployment (that is still increasing due to the aftereffect of the recession) and road accidents. Five entrepreneurs from Bloemfontein put heads together and Afsim was born.

Afsim specialises in safe and affordable driver training. This is done with simulators. Afsim focuses on the gap between no driving experience and the experience driving schools provide. It is now possible for learner drivers to practice potential dangerous scenarios in a safe environment. Even with no driving experience, learner drivers can learn to drive in a relaxed environment without being a frustration to the rest of the road users.

A simulator, that is equipped with a 32 inch LCD screen, right hand drivers unit, safety belt end earphones make it a realistic driving experience. Different scenarios like city driving, night driving, rain and yard training can be done. Training is K53 based.

It was very important to Afsim that everybody across South Africa can get the opportunity to learn to drive this way and therefore it was decided on mobile platforms. This way, disadvantaged learners can also get access to this wonderful opportunity.

Afsim will therefore use one platform for research and development, marketing and to train disadvantaged learners across the Free State for free. Afsim will negotiate with government to help in training disadvantaged people across South Africa. Afsim believes that a person who can drive has a better chance of getting a job or be self efficient. Every mobile platform is equipped with two to four simulators which means that up to four learners can be trained simultaneously.

Afsim believes that in this way he can contributes to road safety and job creation in South Africa and other parts of Africa. Afsim is based in Bloemfontein, but will operate countrywide by means of franchises.

Chris Smith
Marketing Manager: Afsim
082 491 7468

Tyre maker Bridgestone SA has reminded motorists that incorrect tyre pressures could be costing them money and increasing their vehicle emissions. Bridgestone Public Relations Manager, Mandy Lovell, said that tyres were designed to operate in a particular range of pressures for best performance and economy.

“Tyre and motor manufacturers conduct extensive research into tyre pressures to ensure that the recommended pressures give the best compromise between roadholding, treadwear and economy,” she commented. “But when tyres are incorrectly inflated, running costs increase, and tyre life decreases.”

She gave the example of over- or under-inflation as contributing factors to decreased tyre life. Over-inflated tyres wear more rapidly in the middle, while under-inflated tyres wear excessively on the shoulders. In severe cases, the tyre life may be shortened by as much as twenty per cent.

“Twenty per cent higher tyre wear over a motorist’s driving career means that driver uses twenty per cent more tyres, spends twenty per cent more on tyres and requires twenty per cent more emissions to be created at the factories which produce the tyres,” Lovell commented. “Also, tyres which are severely underinflated may overheat and fail, often tens of thousands of kilometres before reaching the end of their design life,” she commented.

Incorrect tyre inflation also affects fuel consumption. An under-inflated tyre has increased rolling resistance which requires more energy to overcome this, in the form of fuel. This energy is wasted in the form of excessive heat build-up in the tyre. Motorists are advised to check their tyres at least once a week to ensure that they are getting maximum tread life and economy.

“One rarely thinks of tyres as being critical to economy, but you could be saving several per cent on your fuel bill with a simple weekly pressure check,” she commented. “Tyres set to the correct pressures also give optimum braking and steering control in an emergency,” she concluded.

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Road Safety & Tyre Safety

Tyres and Car Insurance

A bus careered into a ravine in central Ecuador, killing at least 38 people in the Andean nation’s worst road accident of the year, police said Monday.

The public bus, linking Quito with Ecuador’s third city of Cuenca, crashed on Sunday south of the capital, plunging 100 meters (33 feet) down a hillside in the Yambo lake area in Cotopaxi province.

Preliminary investigations indicated driver fatigue, overcrowding on the bus, mechanical problems with the vehicle, and an insufficient road barrier could all have contributed to the crash.

The bus driver and four children were among those killed, while a three-month old baby whose mother died was one of 12 injured survivors. - Sapa-AFP

A musician from the Afrikaans group DJ Ossewa was killed and three of his band mates injured in a car accident near Brits, North West police said on Sunday.

Police spokesperson Aafje Botma said that a case of culpable homicide was being investigated after the accident happened on the N4 near Brits on Sunday morning.

She said besides the vehicle the band were travelling in, another car was involved in the accident.

However, it was still unclear exactly what happened. Botma said that the name of the deceased could not yet be released as it was not yet clear whether their next of kin had been informed.

She said three other band members were injured and a driver and passenger from the other car were slightly injured.

According to the group’s Facebook page the four band members are Piet Pompies, Raapie Knaapie, Daniel Jakobus Ossewa and Jerbes die leeu boer.

- SAPA

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Band member of DJ Ossewa dies in car accident

Two people have been injured after a side impact collision between two cars at the intersection of Smith and Aliwal Roads in Durban.

It seems that as a white Jeep crossed the intersection, it collided with a Dodge Caliber, causing the Jeep to overturn, coming to rest on its side.

Both of the drivers, believed to be in their early thirties, were entrapped in their mangled vehicles, and Fire and Rescue services had to cut them both out using the Jaw of Life. The driver of the Jeep was fortunate enough to only have sustained minor injuries, and was treated on scene for cuts and bruises before being transported to hospital. The driver of the Dodge has suffered breaks to both of his legs, and was stabilised on scene before being loaded into the ambulance for transportation.

Fortunately no one else was injured in the incident, and the police will be investigating.

Vanessa Jackson
ER24

Two men are lucky to have only sustained minor injuries after their vehicle crashed through a residential wall and into a pool.

The home owners explained that the pool has only recently been drained, and that if there had been water in the pool the fate of the two men could have been a lot worse.

It seems that the driver lost control of the vehicle on Stella Road in Queenburgh in the early hours of the morning, and the SUV then crashed through the wall. The vehicle then came to a rest on its roof inside the now empty pool. The woman of the house also commented that if the pool had not been there, it was very likely that the SUV would have crashed through the bedroom wall where they had been sleeping.

When ER24 paramedics arrived on the scene the two men had already been helped out of the vehicle and were seated at the side of the pool. One was complaining of pain to his arm while the other had a minor cut on his head. Both men were treated for soft tissue injuries at the scene and transported to a nearby hospital for further observation.

Vanessa Jackson
ER24