[Image: Wikimedia Commons]
Residents of the Atlantic Seaboard are gatvol and calling on Cape Town authorities to put the brakes on the chaos caused by dangerous street racing and the ear-splitting revving of sports cars.
It’s been years of moaning, but things just seem to be getting worse, with Beach Road and High-Level Road turning into the unofficial race tracks for these wannabe Formula 1 drivers.
According to long-time resident Grant Richardson, this zef behaviour has been going on for over a decade, with drag racers turning the area into a nightly headache. They even gather in groups for these drag races – like Fast & Furious: Sea Point edition – he said.
Richardson’s been klapping the complaints to everyone from Premier Alan Winde to Mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis and ward councillor Nicola Jowell. Despite his efforts, the noise and speeding are still out of control.
“The situation we are currently witnessing has been ongoing for some time now and has been getting out of hand since around 2015, becoming progressively worse to that we are currently witnessing,” Richardson told the Cape Argus.
“In an infantile attempt to attract attention and perhaps even admiration, when in fact most being subjected to this behaviour ironically view the perpetrators and their behaviour with little more than contempt.”
Richardson recalls a time when he saw a Ferrari and Aston Martin pull up at traffic lights on Beach Rd, followed by a van from SAPS.
“The van pulled up behind them, switched on its blue lights and siren, then instructed the drivers to pull over.
“In a display of contempt and lawlessness, both vehicles raced away through the red traffic lights and down Beach Rd.”
These reckless displays can end pretty badly, like these previous accidents along the Atlantic Seaboard:
Regan Thaw, spokesperson for Winde’s office, said they were aware of the complaints penned by Richardson, while Jowell’s office was also contacted but she is currently out of office, per Cape Argus.
The City of Cape Town in response said they called on residents to actively raise complaints with traffic officials and their emergency portal.
[You can report transgressions by phoning the City’s Public Emergency Communication Centre at 021 480 77 00 from a cellphone and 107 from a landline, or email Services@capetown.gov.za for ongoing complaints for further investigation.]
It is perhaps about time the City took the lead and put the pedal to the metal on some solutions.
[Source: Cape Argus]