A 24-year-old East London taxi driver has been held for reckless and negligent driving after he was caught carrying 32 school pupils in a 14-seater Toyota Quantum minibus taxi.
There were 34 passengers in total inside the taxi including the driver and his conductor, said Buffalo City Metro spokeswoman Bathandwa Diamond.
The driver was stopped and arrested in Griffin Street in Cambridge at 7.25am on Thursday, trying to get out of a traffic jam by overtaking a long queue of cars while travelling at “dangerously” high speed.
Diamond said the accused was driving in the wrong lane straight into oncoming traffic during peak hour traffic.
She said the driver was driving from Amalinda to Cambridge with pupils from Cambridge, Hudson, Stirling and Port Rex High schools on board.
A video seen by Saturday Dispatch shows pupils in smart school uniforms pouring out of the taxi.
Diamond said: “Overloading is a very serious offence and can have fatal consequences.
“An overloaded vehicle takes longer to brake due to the load and it is very difficult to control when in trouble.”
Diamond said it was also highly dangerous to overload a vehicle because if it overturned, passengers could also die from suffocation and not just injuries.
Diamond also said overloading made it difficult for emergency personnel to assist those in need of urgent medical attention.
“When fined, a driver won’t be able to apply for a Professional Driving Permit – that would mean they can be unemployable in the taxi industry or anywhere where driving and delivering goods is needed.”
Eastern Cape department of transport spokeswoman Khuselwa Rantjie said the department would intensify awareness about the dangers of overloading among pupils as well as public transport drivers.
“We are greatly concerned about incidents such as this. Overloading threatens road safety.
“Overloaded vehicles are contributing to many of the fatal accidents on our roads.”
Rantjie further said: “An overloaded vehicle will not only put the driver at risk but also passengers and other road users.
“In recent weeks we have received a number of reports of overloading involving pupils.
“We are calling on pupils to refrain from this.
“They must take responsibility for their safety and not allow themselves to be overloaded in a vehicle. It is not cool and a serious threat to your life.”
Mdantsane police spokesman Captain Nkosikho Mzuku said the driver was held in the Cambridge police cells and after a senior officer (sergeant or higher) went through a process of verification to make sure that he would appear in court, he was granted R1000 bail and released later that day. — malibongwed@
dispatch.co.za