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Stuck in load-shedding traffic? How to respond
With Eskom’s planned outages veering between stage 3 and 6, South Africa’s roads are in chaos. But there are ways to ease the stress, says MasterDrive.
South Africans are dreading traffic headaches as the country veers between Stage 3 and 6 of load-shedding, with talk of a stage 15!
Stage 6 has meant eight to nine hours without power every day, while Level 5 but still means a minimum six hours without power. These outages play major havoc on traffic, with incidents of crashes at intersections without traffic lights becoming a common sight.
MasterDrive CEO Eugene Herbert says the key to managing the added stress of the outages during daily trips is to remain calm.
“As frustrating as it may be, accept that load-shedding is a reality,” he says. “Get into your car prepared for the challenges this creates, and then manage them calmly and safely. When you let frustration rule your decisions behind the wheel, it becomes dangerous.”
Herbert provides the following tips to safely navigate the roads during load-shedding:
* Be prepared by knowing when outages will affect your commute to and from work. Keep an eye on loadsshedding schedules and attempt to avoid areas experiencing outages during your travel times with the help of apps like Google Maps and Waze.
* Give yourself additional travel time, to avoid feeling pressurised while driving.
* Do not drive in the yellow lane while waiting in congestion at a traffic light. It worsens the traffic for other motorists, makes it more dangerous to re-enter traffic later, and may incite anger from fellow drivers.
* While intersections should be treated as four-way stops, often this does not happen, making it necessary that you double check every path that crosses yours before going. Rather take longer to cross than not make it across at all.
* If you find it difficult to remain calm in congestion, find ways that can assist in keeping you relaxed, such as selecting relaxing music before leaving.
* Listen to points people directing traffic and give them the respect they deserve for the help they provide.
* If another driver is displaying reckless, selfish or any other questionable behaviour, rather ignore them and move out of their way than get upset or try to intervene.
Days when people face up to 10 hours without power is placing extra pressure on drivers.
“Do not drive in a way that you may later regret,” says Herbert.” Accept that these challenges are likely to affect you and make a mental commitment to handle them safely.”
