Neil McHardy, Rondebosch
The intersection of Milner and Sandown roads can be described as busy, but the intersection of Norton Way and Milner Road is far better described as a quiet intersection (“Elderly fear busy traffic intersection in Rondebosch,” Tatler, June 15).
I am familiar with this intersection, and, if one is exiting Norton Way into Milner Road, the typical driving process would be to stop at the stop street, and when Milner Road seems clear, edge the vehicle forward (because the view of Milner Road is partly obscured by trees). The driver should then stop the car past the stop street line before it interferes with the normal traffic flow in Milner Road.
At this point, there is an unobstructed view of Milner Road, to the left, of approximately 120m and, to the right, of at least 300m. From this position, the driver should accelerate into the lane they have chosen.
At 60km/h it will take a car 18 seconds to travel 300m and 7.2 seconds to travel 120m. Similar calculations apply if the car were travelling at an unlikely speed of 100km/h: 10.8 seconds and 4.3 seconds, respectively.
I find it implausible that an alert, cautious and experienced driver would not have seen the oncoming car in Milner Road, even if it were speeding.
A much simpler solution is for the cars exiting Norton Way into Milner Road to be prohibited from making a right turn into Milner Road. A similar restriction should prohibit cars in Milner Road from making a right turn into Norton Way.
Also no more “speed humps”, please, especially on main routes. Speed humps do indeed slow down the general speed of travel. However, they have many undesirable side-effects. The city council can also continue to enforce speed limits and earn revenue from drivers who exceed speed limits.