Passengers in open bakkies expose themselves to accidents 

The open bakkie is often times than not associated with work hence it often loads goods, tools and any work equipment. However, for obvious reasons such as its availability and lack of transport a lot of passengers have been perched, packed and overloaded in these work hoses. Those in the know, for starters have it, that if push comes to shove and passengers should be accommodated in these vehicles, they shouldn’t exceed nine (9) in number. This would give them enough space to sit inside the bakkie. In another road safety tip, none of these passengers should stand and as a result extend above the vehicle and preferably they must all sit down. Nobody should undermine the fact that being in the open, they are vulnerable and very exposed to danger at the slightest negligence or disturbance in the driving of the vehicle. As experience has shown and still exposes, they fall out of the vehicle and get far-flung to their own serious and even fatal injuries.

BAKKIES GET OVERLOADED WITH PASSENGERS

The situation on the traffic vicinity tells us that bakkies for whatever reason get overloaded where so many passengers seated and standing. This makes it difficult for the driver to control the vehicle as it battles with the load especially when it gets to very steep or descending slopes on the road. From that excessive load the vehicle may even develop mechanical faults like loss of brakes or gear disengagement. The notorious groups of road users prone to indulge usage road use are football teams in the rural areas, congregants going to services and night vigils or general members of the community attending cultural events in between communities. In the thought that there could be no police presence in that vicinity, open vans are painfully and ill-loaded, danger is written in every kilometer surface the vehicle covers.

DANGEROUSLY SITTING ON THE EDGE 

Even if the vehicle ain’t overloaded, the few that are at the back often times than not sit on the edge of the bakkie. Any sudden braking or veering of the car may compel the passenger to lose hold and fall down. A lot of head and spinal injuries are a direct result of this kind of occupancy of the vehicle. It beats everyone, first, why the driver of the vehicle would not see this and bring his passengers to safety. You would be shocked at times to find such vehicles doing full speed on the road yet all the passengers are precariously perched on the edge of the vehicle. The rule is, if anyone has to be a passenger at the back of a vehicle no part of their bodies should be hanging outside. Whatever the speed the vehicle is driven at or the terrain, all passengers have to be confined within the capacity of the vehicle. For their own convenience bakkie drivers have been caught many times loading equipment together with passengers. A truck loaded to the bring would still have one or two passenger up high on top of the load. The same has been realized amongst construction companies that would carry so much equipment and still have the workforce in numbers crammed together with toll that may impose danger in the event an accident occurs. 

TAKE AWAYS: 

1. Don’t overload bakkies with passengers. 

2. No part of the passenger body must hang outside the bakkie’s capacity. 

3. Kill your speed if you have passengers in your bakkie or you may kill all of them. 

4. Don’t load passengers with tools in one space-it’s dangerous.

5. Ensure roadworthiness of your bakkie before you load it.