There are some 16 000 lights on the inner-Gauteng freeways, 90% of which SANRAL manages to keep burning continuously. Without them, motorists will be less safe.

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 also saves costs when it comes to emergency services, maintenance and repair costs, and more important, loss of life.

Hardy Johnson, head of SANRAL’s Electrical Maintenance in the Northern Region (Gauteng, Mpumalanga, Limpopo and North West), said: “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.

“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 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 minimum delay.

“Maintaining the lights on our freeways is not without [its] 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.”