Freeway lights on for your safety

Most motorists never think about them - the lights on the inner-Gauteng freeways. Without them, motorists will be less safe. There are some 16 000 of them and Sanral manages to keep 90% of them burning continuously.

Maintaining this target does not only contribute to the safety of motorists, it is a cost-effective measure designed to reduce the number of motor vehicle accidents on highways at night. It is also a cost saving in terms of emergency services, maintenance and repair costs, and importantly loss of life.

"A fundamental aspect of ensuring safety of all road users is visibility: ensuring road users can see the entire road surface clearly and can also be seen by other road users at any time of day," explains Hardy Johnson who heads up Sanral's Electrical Maintenance in the Northern Region (Gauteng, Mpumalanga, Limpopo and North West).

"Having well-lit freeways enables people to drive home safely late at night without finding it too stressful.

Considering there are 4.2 million registered vehicles in Gauteng and 1.49 million vehicle trips are recorded on the e-toll road network daily, lighting is very important.

Johnson adds: "Besides ensuring improved visibility, highway lighting also improves accessibility, the ease with which road users can travel between destinations. It also enhances mobility which refers to the ability to reach a destination with a minimum of delay."

"Maintaining the lights on our freeways is not without challenges as the lights are subjected to damage from accidents, theft, weather and power outages. But at Sanral we manage to keep our burn rate above 90% for the benefit of all who use our roads," Johnson ends.