South Africa is currently in the midst of continuous bouts of loadshedding, causing havoc in both households and on the road. Unfortunately, power cuts will be a reality for years to come, which has been confirmed by both the government and the electricity supplier, Eskom.
Loadshedding levels can increase or decrease at any given time, amounting to as many as eight hours a day without electricity. The outages wreak havoc on traffic, in particular with the incidents of crashes at intersections without traffic lights becoming a common sight.
Even though stress levels will already be high from having worked a long day at work to then being greeted by bumper-to-bumper traffic brought upon by loadshedding, the best thing to do is remain calm. You can do nothing from behind the wheel to improve the situation.
In a bid to get home as quickly as possible, people will, unfortunately, take risks like driving in the yellow lane while waiting in congestion or cutting in from another lane. The best thing to do is ignore them and move out of their way rather than get upset or try to intervene.
Loadshedding levels can increase or decrease at any given time, amounting to as many as eight hours a day without electricity. The outages wreak havoc on traffic, in particular with the incidents of crashes at intersections without traffic lights becoming a common sight.
Even though stress levels will already be high from having worked a long day at work to then being greeted by bumper-to-bumper traffic brought upon by loadshedding, the best thing to do is remain calm. You can do nothing from behind the wheel to improve the situation.
In a bid to get home as quickly as possible, people will, unfortunately, take risks like driving in the yellow lane while waiting in congestion or cutting in from another lane. The best thing to do is ignore them and move out of their way rather than get upset or try to intervene.
Vital points to keep in mind
We are all annoyed with load shedding - but ultimately want to arrive safely at our respective destinations. You are not more important than other road users - they might also be under stress with urgent appointments to attend. Be respectful to traffic officials and pointsmen trying to assist motorists at intersections.
Gumtree lists a couple of tips for staying safe and navigating the roads when loadshedding is underway:
- With many companies still adopting the hybrid work-from-home policy, give yourself sufficient time to travel home while the lights are still on in the area.
- Keep an eye on loadshedding schedules - like the EskomSePush mobile app - and avoid certain areas experiencing outages while you are on the road.
- Avoid commonly congested areas even when the traffic lights are operational. This can lead to accidents and even slower traffic due to motorists treating it as a (four-way) stop.
- You can also avoid all the mayhem altogether by choosing to work late (perhaps overtime) and wait for all the traffic to subside - although this means you will get home late.
Now that you’ve got the knowledge, it’s time to shop! Head to gumtree.co.za or your Gumtree app (click for Apple & Android), and don’t forget to use your location settings to find local service information close to home.
