Modifying your car now 'illegal'

[Agent_Smith]

From iol.co.za

In an effort to clamp down on illegal street racing, it seems the WC government want to make all after market changes to a car illegal.

Cape Town - The motor industry is in uproar over the Cape Town traffic department’s efforts to clamp down on modified cars as part of their actions against illegal street racers.

Even seemingly simple modifications, such as wider or larger wheels and tyres, larger exhausts, or any fittings not clearly specified by the car’s manufacturer may now have a motorist running the risk of having a car declared unroadworthy.

The city’s traffic officers have been stopping cars they saw as having been modified and removing their licence disks, forcing the owners to go through a roadworthy process.

Traffic department spokesman Richard Coleman pointed out that regulations stated no modifications could be made to any vehicle that was not specified by the manufacturer, and that all work on cars had to be done by individuals or organisations who carried a letter of authority regarding the specific car.

Essentially, no modifications were legal, including lowering a car or changing the wheel size, he said.

Read the rest of the article here

 

[dualmeister]

It's too early for April fools day :erm:

 

[The_Unbeliever]

Say what? They won't succeed with that.

Will they now be checking each and every car to make sure it's not modified? Yeah sure.....

 

[Pitbull]

It's always been illegal just never enforced...

 

[LCBXX]

The concept is valid. Pity that it will give rise to even more bribery & corruption in involving both testing stations and the police.

 

[Maverick Jester]

Good luck to them.

 

[Rickster]

Yayyyyyyy, no more chops in their "dope, pimped out" Citi golf.


Buy a real car, D bags.

 

[Dolby]

I wonder how many jobs will be lost in the Western Cape?

 

[MrR]

<sigh>

But what happens if your car already passed the roadworthy tests WITH said modifications? Suddenly their stamp of approval means nothing?

What happens when you buy a pre-owned (secondhand) vehicle from a dealership that has "aftermarket" modifications?

What are we becoming; a nanny state?!

 

[Bona Botse]

It's always been illegal just never enforced...

It was never enforced because it's unenforceable.

 

[Fazda]

I'm pretty sure that it has always been the case, just never enforced.

Makes sense - as a car is designed around certain parameters - now take your Citigolf and drop in a modded VR6 motor without doing anything to brakes and suspension and you have a problem.

Far too many "hot" cars running around that are actual deathtraps from a safety point of view.

 

[xrapidx]

Another reason not to vote DA.

 

[Hamster]

Don't see how they are going to enforce that. But I get where they are coming from. Maybe they should just shoot street racers and get it done with. The first 3 that die at the hands of the police will be enough for these idiots to realise that Fast and the Furious is just a movie.

...or they could give them a bloody race track or some stretch of road somewhere.

 

[xrapidx]

I'm pretty sure that it has always been the case, just never enforced.

Makes sense - as a car is designed around certain parameters - now take your Citigolf and drop in a modded VR6 motor without doing anything to brakes and suspension and you have a problem.

Far too many "hot" cars running around that are actual deathtraps from a safety point of view.

What about off-road vehicles? Vintage vehicles? Vehicles where manufacturer parts are no longer available? Insurance claims where they use "alternate" parts?

 

[Rickster]

Another reason not to vote DA.

Not sure if srs.

 

[Hamster]

Another reason not to vote DA.

So just to get a recap of the score:

DA: -23
ANC: -729

Odds still in their favour.

 

[Agent_Smith]

I do believe that there are modifications that should be completely outlawed. Things like totally blacked out windows or semi slick tyres spring to mind; mods that pose a safety hazard to not only the drivers but to other road users as well.

This move though, just smacks of a complete over reaction to what is essentially a minority bunch of yobs. I can also imagine that there a whole bunch of modified cars on the road that are far more road legal and safe than standard non modified heaps of junk that cough and splutter their way along the roads.

 

[Archer]

Say what? They won't succeed with that.

Will they now be checking each and every car to make sure it's not modified? Yeah sure.....

Problem is almost everyone is running a "modded" car depending on how loose the interpretation is. Just think how many people fit non-OEM brake pads (which is almost always just a non branded version that's identical in every other way), discs, tyres, roof racks, tow bars. I wont even mention... radios...

 

[Fazda]

Another reason not to vote DA.

Oh Bollocks!


At least the bloody DA is looking after the interests of the law abiding people on the roads.

You are welcome to your ANC mismanagement and rubber stamping of death traps!

 

[Pitbull]

It was never enforced because it's unenforceable.

No, I agree. Just stating the fact that it has ALWAYS been illegal