The R44 Between Somerset West and Strand

A speed limit inquiry
The Motoring Desk attempts to establish, once and for all, what the speed limit is on this road and why it appears to change based on factors that have not been officially communicated

The R44 between Somerset West and Strand is, by objective measurement, not a long road. You can drive it in under ten minutes. It connects two towns that most residents of each consider themselves to also be a resident of, given that the boundary between them is not something anyone has fully agreed on either.

In those ten minutes, the speed limit changes.

This is not, in itself, unusual. Speed limits change on roads. What is unusual about the R44 is the degree to which the changes appear to follow a logic that is either very sophisticated or entirely absent and we have not been able to determine which.

THE INVESTIGATION

The Motoring Desk drove the R44 between Somerset West and Strand on four separate occasions, in both directions, at different times of day. We noted the signage, the road markings and the behaviour of other drivers, which we used as a secondary data source on the understanding that what other drivers do and what the speed limit is are, on this road, related but distinct questions.

Our findings were inconclusive in the most interesting possible way.

Travelling from Somerset West toward Strand, we identified signage indicating 60 km/h, followed by a section in which the behaviour of traffic suggested 80 km/h, followed by a sign confirming 60 km/h, at which point several vehicles passed us doing what we estimate was 90 km/h, followed by a robot, followed by a section in which our GPS said one thing, the signage said another and a bakkie in our rearview mirror appeared to be operating on the assumption that the limit was purely theoretical.

Travelling in the opposite direction, the experience was different. Not dramatically different, but different in the way that suggests the road has two personalities and does not feel obligated to reconcile them.

CONSULTATION

We consulted Meneer Swanepoel, who taught driver’s education in Somerset West from 1983 to 2001 and who has agreed to serve as an informal technical advisor to this column, a role he accepted with the energy of a man who has been waiting for someone to finally ask.

Meneer Swanepoel’s view is that the R44 speed limit situation reflects “a failure of signage installation that was never followed up on, probably because the relevant person left the municipality and nobody knew who to ask.” He said this with the certainty of someone who has driven this road for forty years and made his peace with it, though the peace is fragile.

We asked Meneer Swanepoel what speed he drives on the R44.

“It depends,” he said, “on which section, what the traffic is doing, whether it’s been raining and honestly also just how I’m feeling.”

We found this answer more honest than we expected from a man whose professional reputation rests on the rulebook.

THE LANE

There is also, between Somerset West and Strand, a section of road where a lane appears. It exists for a period of time sufficient to create mild optimism and then it ends. Vehicles that have moved into this lane must merge back into the main flow. The merging is handled with varying degrees of grace, largely depending on whether the vehicle doing the merging is a bakkie or not and whether the driver of the vehicle being merged into considers themselves a sporting person.

We could not determine what purpose this lane serves. It may be a passing lane. It may be a legacy of a road-widening project that ran out of either money or enthusiasm. It may simply be there to keep us honest.

CONCLUSION

The speed limit on the R44 between Somerset West and Strand is, in law, clearly posted. In practice, it is a living document, interpreted freshly by each driver who encounters it, shaped by context, mood, traffic and the presence or absence of a visible traffic officer.

This is not ideal. It is, however, Somerset West. We drive on, carefully, at a speed that feels reasonable and remains our own responsibility.

Meneer Swanepoel, for the record, indicated before we ended our consultation that he wanted it noted that he always obeys the posted limit and has done so since 1971.

We noted it. We make no further comment.

The Helderburger Motoring Desk did not receive a traffic fine during the course of this investigation. We are choosing to regard this as vindication.

THE HELDERBURGER
Motoring Desk

Kobus Liebenberg