A side tipper truck driver is lucky to have escaped injury after he lost control of his International truck upon hitting a massive pothole on the R54 between Villiers and Vereeniging on Tuesday afternoon.
It’s alleged that the truck hit a pothole at a high speed and veered off the road and the trailer landed on its side splashing its load on the roadway.
Potholes have been a major concern for motorists using this road from the N3 at Villiers to Vereeniging. Starting from Villiers, about 10km of the road towards Vereeniging is full of very big potholes.
Some fatal accidents suspected to have been caused by these potholes have been recorded on this stretch of highway.
In the tweet below, a truck dropped its container after hitting a pothole on the same stretch of road last year.
Looks like the truck hit a pothole and dropped its container on R54 pic.twitter.com/FB7MX54BZW
— SA Trucker (@rsa_trucker) September 27, 2022
Potholes put a huge strain on your truck’s suspension and shocks when they absorb the impact. They can cause expensive damage to your truck and collisions, fatal ones too.
Read also: Man seriously injured in Mpumalanga truck and bakkie collision
The potholes on the R54 are so severe that they can swallow bakkie wheels causing them to touch the ground and consequently crash.
For a trucker, if you hit a pothole at a high speed, you are likely to lose control and collide with vehicles coming from the opposite direction hence truck drivers and all motorists alike are urged to be extra careful when driving on this stretch of road.
Truck crash caused by big potholes on the R54 between Villiers and Vereeniging https://t.co/0mfWJhdvZe pic.twitter.com/eoTEFutlRU
— SA Trucker (@rsa_trucker) February 1, 2023
