- A McLaren 570S coupe crashed on High-Level Road, injuring two people, including a Nigerian rapper.
- Residents and Ward 54 councillor Nicola Jowell expressed concerns over speeding and lack of enforcement.
- Authorities are considering reinstating a camera project to curb reckless driving in the area.
Sea Point residents are calling for drastic interventions to curb speeding in the area.
This follows an accident early on Saturday 1 March, when two people sustained injuries after the driver of a McLaren 570S coupe allegedly lost control of the vehicle and hit a pavement.
On CCTV footage, which has since gone viral, the driver can be seen driving at an excessive speed on High-Level Road and then hitting the pavement and then crossing lanes into a boundary wall.
The driver of the vehicle, believed to be a Nigerian rapper, and a passenger sustained moderate head injuries and treated on the scene by medical personnel before being hospitalised.
One resident, Chris von Ulmenstein, said: “Speeding above our suburb speed limits is shocking and should be severely fined. Speeding sports cars as well as motorcyclists should receive far greater attention from our Traffic Department.
“While it is active in this regard in Sea Point, Camps Bay is being neglected. Despite numerous complaints lodged with the Camps Bay CID nothing is being done to control a gang of motorcyclists from racing through Camps Bay at midnight every night.”
Another resident took to social media and said: “This seems to be happening more and more. Driving at such speed is potentially murderous. The authorities must start cracking down very firmly.”
Nicola Jowell, Ward 54 councillor, said the driver’s behaviour was appalling.
“It would appear this driver was speeding at an excessive speed for the entire journey, not just on High Level Road where the incident happened. It is clear that he had lost control of the vehicle prior to even hitting the curb. What also concerns me is whether he went through a red robot at the intersection, which is a mere 100m away.
“He would never have been able to stop at the robot in time had that robot turned red. This shows absolute disregard for the rules of the road and the community he is travelling through.”
Jowell said no other injury or damage to property was reported.
The councillor said speeding in the area remains a concern.
“We have had certain interventions on High Level Road, we have had two additional four-way stops that will help curb speeding. We have similar complaints on every road in the ward and across the city.”
She explained that some motorists disregard the rules of the road.
“We see it a lot with the high-performance sports vehicles and other vehicles. There has been a lot of work in terms of changes to the bylaw to deal with things like no licence plates. Residents and motorists need to adhere to the rules of the road. This is a concern for the community and we are looking at ways in which the bylaw can be amended to assist with other issues like noisy vehicles.”
According to Jowell, they are looking at plans to reinstate a camera project that was implemented as a pilot project a few years ago.
“We did have a successful pilot project a few years ago with 10 yellow camera boxes in the ward, and that was successful. Unfortunately, the director of public prosecutions did not grant the permission for that to continue.
“It had a huge impact on speeding in the area, and complaints went down. We are hoping that the project will be reinstated at some point because it did make a massive difference.”
Cpt Cyril Dicks, Sea Point police’s communications officer said no arrests had yet been made and added that police registered a reckless and negligent driving case for investigation.
