Question

Hi .... just need to find out more about where speed cameras can be put up etc. Have heard people saying that traffic officers may no longer hide behind objects and not allowed to trap from behind ... is this true?

Answer

Camera prosecutions

After consultation with the Deputy Director of public prosecutions sites are approved. Inspections are carried before sites are approved. Usually speed cameras are set up in high crash zones.

Prosecution by laser equipment (operations done by traffic officers)

Preparation for mobile operations

1. Site selection

When selecting a site for a speed measurement exercise, the operator must have a clear and uninterrupted view of the road and the vehicle measured for duration of the measurement.

Question

Do you think it is possible to apply to be a pointsmen?I would go for training and whenever I see the need, help the traffic flow. I will do this for free! Oh, a very important factor is I'm white which would probably make it much more difficult. I have put out a couple of feelers, I doubt anything will come of it!

Answer

Thank you for your enquiry. Even though you are offering your services free of charge, you would still need to be “employed” by Traffic Freeflow who would ensure that you have the necessary insurances in place in the event of an accident happening at your intersection whilst you are directing traffic. Also, all of our staff is micro-managed by a team of Project Managers who call on JMPD support when necessary. Staff is dispatched by the Ops Centre, who notify JMPD of such. We are currently sitting with 3000 CV’s of potential applicants. I would be happy to add yours to the list. They are date stamped, and in the event of us growing the team, these CV’s are reviewed and applicants interviewed in date order.

This is a developmental project geared towards the previously disadvantaged, but in your CV would be considered as a normal applicant if you wish to follow through.
Also view Outsurance Pointsmen FAQ"S

 

Question

Please view our enclosed Fine issued by Bushbuckridge Traffic Dept. Please give me a full desciption of the law Reg. 260 (1) HRTA 93/96 as we would like to adhere to the law but have never heard that it is necessary to carry a Fire Extinguisher in our truck. Please reply at your earliest convenience.

Answer

This regulation clearly refers to minibuses and buses. However, if you were transporting dangerous goods you may have contravened other parts of legislation that prescribes the manner in which the goods must be transported and the duties of the operator and driver.

260.   Fire extinguishers
(1)  Every mini-bus operating for reward shall carry in a readily accessible position at least one fire extinguisher which shall be of—
(a)
the dry powder type with a capacity of at least one kilogram; or
(b)
the halogenated hydrocarbon type (BCF) with a capacity of at least one kilogram,
and which shall be in good working order.
(2)  Every bus operating for reward shall carry in a readily accessible position at least one fire extinguisher which shall be of—
(a)
the dry powder type with a capacity of at least two and a half kilograms; or
(b)
the halogenated hydrocarbon type (BCF) with a capacity of at least one kilogram,
and which shall be in good working order.

Question

Every now & then, my company invites customers to an event. We usually hire a vehicle and transport the customers from where they stay to the venue & back. Invariably there is alchohol involved and we don't want our customers to be a statistic of driving under the influence. In order to transport our customers, does the driver of the vehicle (one of our staff) have to have a public driving licence? If so, how does one go about doing this?

Answer

As these are customers it is assumed that no cost for the transportation is involved, so the assumption is that persons are not being transported for reward.

The second scenario is the design of the hired vehicle. If the vehicle is designed to carry more than 12 people including the driver then the driver must have a professional permit.

If the vehicle is hired with a driver the driver must be in possession of a professional driving permit.

Application for a PrDP can be made at any driving licence testing centre. The application form (PD1) can be downloaded from www.enatis.com. The driver will be referred for a medical examination and a police clearance.

Question

I want to know the permissible load mass on: 1. An interlink/superlink side tipper 2. A tri-axle side tipper 3. A Tri-axle flat deck 4. A interlink/superlink flat deck/tautliner 5. The permissible % mass beyond the permissible load 6. What happens if the same class of trailers have different maximum permissible load limits 7. Are the permissible mass load limits uniform across the country Your assistance will be greatly appreciated.

Answer

I want to know the permissible load mass on:
1. An interlink / superlink side tipper
2. A tri-axle side tipper
3. A Tri-axle flat deck
4. A interlink / superlink flat deck / tautliner

Irrespective of the type (design) of the vehicle, the maximum permissible vehicle mass is derived by the least of the following:
• Permissible axle / axle unit mass loads;
• Manufacturers design limits;
• Power to mass ratio (240kg per kW of engine power);
• Traction ration of drive axle (total mass no more than 5 times mass on drive axle / axle unit);
• Massload carrying capacity of bridges;
• Overall maximum (56 000 kg)

5. The permissible % mass beyond the permissible load

2%

6. What happens if the same class of trailers have different maximum permissible load limits

There will be different amounts of payload for each trailer (but you cannot contravene items listed in blue above)

7. Are the permissible mass load limits uniform across the country

Yes

 

Question

Could you please inform me of the procedures to be followed when transporting a dog over African borders. We lived for 4 Years in Zambia my little dog was transported by air to Ndola 4 years back but she is to old and fragile to go on a plain now and we would like to transport her back to South Africa by car. What do we need and how does it work.

Answer

The best advice will come from Customs or SPCA – in terms of any quarantine requirements. There are no “special” transport requirements for a pet (apart from good common sense).

Also view "Road Safety & Travelling with Pets"

Question

I urgently need help and I am appealing to you for advice. I sold my car to a mechanic whom I have known for over 15yrs, no receipts were given to him and I never signed the yellow registration form, however I did in good faith hand over the logbook. The reason we never signed the yellow form was that he said the engine needed to be replaced and he would need to put the new number on with registration. He promised not to drive it till transferred. This was in April 08, in about August I received the first of three fines. I phoned him and told him to put payment into my account and I will pay the fines....that’s when this nightmare began. He informed me he had sold the car to another individual. I contacted the new owner and threatened to scrap the vehicle if he does not pay the fines (now R800) and send me a copy of his ID. After taking verbal threats on my life, I found the funds paid into my account. I told him the licence ends in November and he has then to get the yellow doc to me, I even arranged for him to send it via an Absa branch. Nothing came. At the end of November I went to the Licensing dept. I filled in the pink slip to scrap the car, I was told I could not as I did not have the logbook, I was by then close to tears so I asked what can I do, they registered the car as owner unknown and gave me a receipt, they also phoned Mr Paul who told them some long stories, but being fair I agreed to make the owner unknown effective from November and not from April so he would not have to pay penalties. I thought finally it was over. Until last week when I got another fine in the mail… Now I don't know what to do, this man is obviously still driving this car, has not registered it and it is unlicensed and worse of all is I am still linked to it.

Answer

The regulation regarding change of ownership requires form NCO to be completed by the current and new owner. The current owner must then have form NCO processed at his authority. This records the new owner's liability to register and ends the licence liability of the current owner. It thus ensures that arrears and penalties are not accrued by the current owner. The NCO was not processed, thus the new owner is not recorded.

Reporting the vehicle as stolen or scrapping the vehicle would be a false declaration and not advised as it has legal consequences. The police will not be able to get the vehicle back the vehicle was sold there are no grounds for impounding the vehicle. The traffic authorities may be able do something about the fact that the new owner has an unlicensed vehicle in his possession.

Question

I fully support traffic enforcement, but I also believe that speeding raod users are not the only reason for accidents. I am living in Mpumalanga and have been caught speeding twice in the last week. Once outside Graskop and once outside Sabie. In both cases the normal speedzone goes from 120km/h to 60km/h, but in both cases the grass along the roads are not cut which makes the speed signs not as prominent as I suppose they should be. When I pointed this out to the staff they said it is not their duty to cut the grass. I agree, but I am arguing that they must tell whoever is supposed to cut the crass to do so as in both cases the grass is right next to the road and even if a pedestrian comes from behind the grass a motor car will only see this person when it is too late. Secondly I think that going from 120 to 60 should surely be give a certain distance. If I had the distance I would be able to understand why I was caught so quickly while still going slower. Thirdly I would like to know wheter or not these traffic staff are supposed top wear reflective clothing while manning these equipment. At some stage our local traffic head was on the front page of a newspaper claiming that these officers should indeed wear these jackets, but whenever this is raised with them they just laugh. Lastly I would like to know whether it is appropriate for staff to talk about a victim in a language he does not understand. This morning one of the staff changed to Siswati when speaking to the person that was issuing my ticket. I then retaliated by changing to Afrikaans and you can just imagine how "sour" this whole incident then turned. They claim they were not discussing me, but how will I know that for a fact???? Please assist me. I am not a speedsster in general and have only collected about 10 tickets in my 24 years behid the wheel of various vehichles. I do think, however, that when I am caught in a speedtrap there are certain criteria that this speedtrap and its human operators must adhere to in order to make it "free and fair", but as consumer I do not have this info Please assist

Answer

Thank you for raising the issues. Firstly, let me deal with the speeding. Speed is a huge contributory factor in accidents. A speed may be high for the prevailing circumstances and that may cause an accident.
Secondly, you are quiet correct in that according to the prescripts, the lowering of the speed restriction has certain standards to be followed. If the speed restriction is 120 km/h, then the next sign of 100 km/h should be about 200 meters away, then 80 km/h the next 200 meters, and so on. Should this not be in place, then you may make a representation to the prosecutor in the magisterial district.

The officers are bound to report the tall grass next to the road especially if such grass obscures signs and may be a source of danger to the road users. With respect to the wearing of reflective jackets, the officers should wear these so that they may be visible, however it is not a must if the conditions do not necessitate the wearing of reflective jackets. Officers should wear full uniform, a cap, badge, name tag when stopping motorists.

Please give me more details about the officers who stopped you, for instance for which authority are they working (either Mpumalanga Province or Sabie Local Authority). As soon as I receive the info, I will be in a position to follow up. 

I hope this will assist you.  

Senior Executive Manager: Road Traffic Law Enforcement & Education
Road Traffic Management Corporation

Question

Question from Answerit: " Were to report this?We were visiting friends in Jo'burg yesterday. On the way back, I had this Randburg Metro Police vehicle behind me, "playing with his sirene" and flashing his headlights so that I must drive faster... It is also, a road, where there's lots of speed cameras, due to the fact that many pedestrians were "killed" in accidents on that road, and on that spot, "we", a taxi in front of me, and this Police vehicle at my back, we were already driving 70 km/h in a 60 km/h zone already... I got his registration number, where can I report him? Secondly, he is from Randburg, and was in Olievenhoutbosch, close to Centurion, I don't think he even belonged there! "

Answer

Thanks for this observation. You can do this online via the Arrive Alive website and the report will be delivered directly to the National Traffic Call Centre at the RTMC. Visit the link below for more information about the National Traffic Call Centre. We will also ensure that this gets to the attention of the head of Enforcement at the RTMC!

Link to "Reporting of bad driving"

Additional information received from the RTMC:

Report it to Abel Nkosi of Complaints against Officers at [email protected]. 

National Traffic Call Centre
Road Traffic Management Corporation (RTMC)

Question

Could the rules around traffic circles please be clarified? When approaching a traffic circle should drivers be giving way to oncoming vehicles from the right? Circles should not be treated as four way stops unless there is the arrow in blue signage posted at the circle.

Answer

Vehicles approaching a roundabout must yield to all vehicles already in the roundabout that are approaching from the right and are close enough to represent a potential hazard.
• So, a vehicle already in the roundabout, in the inside lane, may check behind and to the left to see if it is safe to change lanes to the left. If safe, he may do so, irrespective of any vehicles approaching the roundabout from his left. However, keep an eye on vehicles approaching the roundabout in case they might take a chance and not comply with the yield rule (just as a pedestrian legally crossing at a pedestrian crossing should still check that it is safe and that an approaching motorist has in fact seen him and is stopping or has stopped).
• If checking to the left/behind shows that it is safe to change lanes to the left, the driver must then indicate left, then check again (to make sure it is still safe) before moving into the left lane to leave the roundabout at the required exit. This would require quick glances and alert driving at a speed that is safe for the circumstances.
• Sensible drivers in the outside lane who see a driver in the inside lane obviously wanting to change lane to the left (e.g. he is looking to the left) would not speed up, and would normally ease back to allow the driver to move into the outside lane. But … the onus remains on the driver changing lanes to make sure it is safe to do so.
• If it is not safe to change lane, then don’t indicate yet. Continue round the island and miss the desired exit and try again the next time round.
• No driver has the right to create a hazard for another driver, and lane changing should only be done if it is safe to do so (after checking mirrors and blind spots and signalling the intention to change lanes).
• In some other countries there are additional or different specific rules for driving within and exiting multi-lane roundabouts. In SA the rules given above apply.

There is nothing in the SA National Road Traffic Act/Regulations about this other than the basic roundabout rules, so this is my own personal assessment of how the existing rules should be applied to a multi-lane roundabout situation.

Also view:  “Driving at a traffic circle/ roundabout”