Some of the greatest road safety challenges on the N3 Toll Route are posed by unexpected changes in the weather, such as severe thunderstorms, hail, strong winds and in extreme cases, snowfall. 

It is for this reason that all partners in the N3 Road Incident Management System (RIMS) have implemented a carefully planned winter contingency protocol. As a standard procedure, all emergency services and law enforcement agencies are placed on standby, to be mobilised at short notice when there is a sudden and significant change in the weather. The SA Weather Service is another essential partner, sharing daily forecasts and warnings with the N3 RIMS team. The team revises and updates the winter contingency protocol annually, and carries out simulation exercises before each winter season to verify the effectiveness of the various supporting processes.

N3 Toll Concession (N3TC) always has emergency equipment and specially equipped emergency vehicles stationed at strategic points along the route, particularly along Van Reenen Pass, to assist with a quick response and swift clearing of road surfaces when needed.

Early on Monday morning,  30 October 2023, the N3 RIMS team was called upon to activate the winter contingency protocol when the first reports of unseasonal snowfall along Van Reenen Pass were received. Within minutes, every RIMS partner responded to the call of duty and under the management of a Joint Operations Centre (JOC), proceeded to implement the planned processes to protect the Safety, Convenience and Mobility of motorists in the area.  

Thanks to the efforts of the N3 RIMS team, despite the dangerous driving conditions at the time, traffic continued to flow and no major incidents were reported on the N3 Toll Route. #N3TC thanks all our partners for their commitment and dedication and extend our gratitude to every road user who heeded the call to stay alert, stay informed and drive defensively. 

Watch the N3 RIMS team in action in this video shared on YouTube:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a8q4qoizeD4