Modifying your car now 'illegal'

akescpt said:
http://www.capetownlately.co.za/city-no-issue-modified-cars/
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Thanks and for those of you who cannot follow the link...

26 January 2015
The City of Cape Town has released a press release, stating that car modifications are legal if they are done by registered mechanics.


PLEASE NOTE THAT THE FOLLOWING TEXT IS A DIRECT STATEMENT FROM THE CITY OF CAPE TOWN, AND NOT THE OPINION OF CAPE TOWN LATELY

JP Smith says alterations done by mechanics, welders, boilermakers, etc. who are not registered to do so are however illegal.

A front-page report in last week’s Cape Argus claims that the City of Cape Town plans to target drivers of modified vehicles. The article is worryingly inaccurate and the misinformation has spread to other media platforms, including social media (see here).

For the record, the City of Cape Town’s Traffic Service is mandated to enforce the provisions of the National Road Traffic Act No. 93 of 1996 – a national piece of legislation which states that any modification of or tampering with a vehicle’s safety design renders the vehicle unroadworthy unless it is done by the manufacturer or a registered body builder.

If a registered body builder decides to make any alterations, they are required to re-register the vehicle and send it to the South African Police Service for clearance before the alteration is considered legal. This is very rarely or never done on motor cars and will normally take place when dealing with heavy vehicles like buses or trucks.

In addition to the National Road Traffic Act, the SANS 047 (South African National Standard) is extensively used by our motor vehicle examiners when conducting roadworthy checks on vehicles. The SANS 047 is very specific on unroadworthy issues such as suspensions and springs, steering columns, vehicle headlights and fog lamps, tinting of windows, and brakes, etc.

The City has no issue with motor vehicles that have been modified legally and in line with the legislation and standards as outlined above.

What we do have an issue with is the large number of vehicles that are modified illegally, rendering them unsafe. Alterations done by mechanics, welders, boilermakers, etc. who are not registered to do so are illegal and the law is very clear about the issue.

Contrary to the information in the article, City traffic officers are clamping down on modified vehicles and the statistics from our illegal street racing operations indicate as much. Of the more than 400 vehicles that had gathered for an illegal street race in Ottery this past weekend, only seven were suspended for illegal modifications and all of them were involved in races, because operationally it would be virtually impossible to check each and every vehicle at the location. Eight suspects were arrested for participating in illegal races, putting their lives as well as the lives of other road users in jeopardy.

Currently, City traffic officers can arrest motorists who participate in illegal races on charges of reckless and negligent driving. Officers can also suspend illegally modified vehicles from the road, in spite of the article incorrectly quoting me as saying we cannot.

What we want (and I have made this clear on a number of occasions) is the enactment of new regulations that will allow us to impose stricter penalties on illegal street racers, with very specific emphasis on those who evade or elude lawful instructions from an authorised official to pull over, including impounding their vehicles. We are also calling for harsher impoundment fees for these vehicles and want to ensure prison time for the offenders.

The act of being a spectator at the races also needs to be included with a suitable penalty, as we are inundated with complaints about their behaviour and the impact on surrounding residents. We want to discuss with the National Prosecuting Authority and the Transport MEC certain significant cases where the courts have failed to address this matter adequately and where repeat offenders have been let off too lightly by prosecutors and magistrates who apparently do not understand the gravity of the situation.

Statement issued by Alderman JP Smith, Mayoral Committee Member for Safety and Security, City of Cape Town, January 22 2015
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spiderz said:
What is a "registered mechanics"?
With whom are they registered?
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A mechanic that has been registered with the Motor Industry Federation.

Any mechanic that has his papers will qualify.

I don't see it as a bad thing at all, and before I get a whole lot of people yelling about changing their own disc pads on a Saturday afternoon, please remember that this whole thing is aimed a bunch of Yahoos who are busy playing with other people's lives in the Cape Flats.
 
Fazda said:
A mechanic that has been registered with the Motor Industry Federation.

Any mechanic that has his papers will qualify.

I don't see it as a bad thing at all, and before I get a whole lot of people yelling about changing their own disc pads on a Saturday afternoon, please remember that this whole thing is aimed a bunch of Yahoos who are busy playing with other people's lives in the Cape Flats.
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So you're ok with this law because it's being enforced in a discriminating manner? Also you mention the Cape Flats: I've met many white folk from the northern suburbs (also known as "not the Cape Flats") who were very ardent street racing fans.

I change my brake pads on a Saturday afternoon. Why? Because I can, and it's not rocket science. I also fitted the K&N intake on my car, because it came with very concise instructions from the manufacturer. Those modifications are now illegal because I am not a registered mechanic... This law shouldn't be enforced, it should be repealed.

Like I said, you are ok with this law because you don't think it affects you.

Unfortunately, not everyone has the ability to think further...
 
ShiiZZo said:
So you're ok with this law because it's being enforced in a discriminating manner? Also you mention the Cape Flats: I've met many white folk from the northern suburbs (also known as "not the Cape Flats") who were very ardent street racing fans.

I change my brake pads on a Saturday afternoon. Why? Because I can, and it's not rocket science. I also fitted the K&N intake on my car, because it came with very concise instructions from the manufacturer. Those modifications are now illegal because I am not a registered mechanic... This law shouldn't be enforced, it should be repealed.

Like I said, you are ok with this law because you don't think it affects you.

Unfortunately, not everyone has the ability to think further...
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You sir are still overreacting.

This law has been in place since 1996... they're not going to repeal it.
This "crackdown" is aimed at people who are modifying their cars, not doing their brakes and such on their own...
 
ShiiZZo said:
So you're ok with this law because it's being enforced in a discriminating manner? Also you mention the Cape Flats: I've met many white folk from the northern suburbs (also known as "not the Cape Flats") who were very ardent street racing fans.

I change my brake pads on a Saturday afternoon. Why? Because I can, and it's not rocket science. I also fitted the K&N intake on my car, because it came with very concise instructions from the manufacturer. Those modifications are now illegal because I am not a registered mechanic... This law shouldn't be enforced, it should be repealed.

Like I said, you are ok with this law because you don't think it affects you.

Unfortunately, not everyone has the ability to think further...
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I'm OK with the law because it is being used to target specific individuals who have been wantonly breaking the law - I mention the Cape Flats because they were mentioned when it came to the whereabouts of these individuals, so don't throw the bloody race card at me.

I also change my own brake pad and service my own car because I can.

I don't however, go out and take part in illegal street races - but you would know all of this if you read the articles instead of getting on your High Horse on MyBB.
 
The article is worryingly inaccurate
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The article does not state who wrote it, perhaps exploring that avenue may shed some clues as to the inaccuracies which JP Smith from the City is referring to.
The apple does not fall far from the tree, if the writer of the article simply chose to sell newspapers with misleading content then so be it, however the question begs a different picture here which is worrying.

The act of being a spectator at the races also needs to be included with a suitable penalty, as we are inundated with complaints about their behaviour and the impact on surrounding residents.
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This is nothing other than an illegal gathering.
Converging on one venue needs an Events Permit, much like the one applied for recently for the Minstrel Parade. Nothing new here, however the Drag Racers and all their fans would never seek such a permit as they know it would not be granted by The City nor accepted by the community. One simple reason would be the timing, the daring Drag Racers gather and collect from around 23h00 on a chosen evening and venue and for several hours thereafter until around 03h00 they will peel off to go race on different roads.

The problem the Traffic Officers have is while the Drag Racers are parked they are essentially innocent, they have to catch them in the act of racing and this is difficult with limited resources during the early hours of the morning.
The whole point of amending some old laws as mentioned by JP Smith is to allow the Traffic Officers to impound these vehicles from the outset.

At the least The City is doing something. The situation was completely out of control.
Remember this situation did not start now, it has been ongoing for 3 years or more which the IOL Article alluded to say, just the last 2 years have been quite bad with hundreds of revellers parking at random spots along public roads or garages while playing loud music, drinking alcohol and smoking hubbly bubblys, revving their cars, spinning/donuts, not to mention that each and every car when it starts up has to skid off, a further noise nuisance.
I doubt any of the residents that complained to the City told the officials they must impound illegal cars, all the residents want is peace and quiet when the community is sleeping, all the illegal stuff is secondary.;
 
Fazda said:
I'm OK with the law because it is being used to target specific individuals who have been wantonly breaking the law - I mention the Cape Flats because they were mentioned when it came to the whereabouts of these individuals, so don't throw the bloody race card at me.

I also change my own brake pad and service my own car because I can.

I don't however, go out and take part in illegal street races - but you would know all of this if you read the articles instead of getting on your High Horse on MyBB.
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Except that you are wrong. It's up to the discretion of the officer whether or not to enforce the law, illegal street racer or not.
 
Fazda said:
Well said :)
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Why thanks..

I have even modified my own car (If you can call the monster I drive a "car" :)) It has raised suspension, beefy bull bars etc etc etc... some of the work was done myself, some by professionals. Overall though, my car doesn't look standard at all, and is now safer to drive than a standard vehicle
 
ShiiZZo said:
Except that you are wrong. It's up to the discretion of the officer whether or not to enforce the law, illegal street racer or not.
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Ahhh, so you are one of those people that piss police officers off then?

Does your car LOOK like it has been modified into a street racer?
 
ToxicBunny said:
Ahhh, so you are one of those people that piss police officers off then?

Does your car LOOK like it has been modified into a street racer?
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That is a baseless assumption.

Why are you agreeing with discrimination? That is what it is, when people choose to enforce laws only against a subset of society.
 
been reading reports on fb that officers are removing license disks of cars. does this law allow them to do that or is it their own initiative?
 
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