New Traffic Laws

Serqet said:
You don't lose points, you acquire points. You start out with 0 and once you reach 12 points your licence is suspended for 3 months..
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Points are only awarded once the fine is paid, since that is an admission of guilt etc. So it makes sense that they have brought in the system where if you pay within 32 days you get 50% off. But what if paying means you will get awarded the points that suspends your license? :rolleyes::(

Especially if waiting a month will give older points time to expire so the new fine doesn't end up suspending your license.

I think the 50% incentive is the smartest thing they have done.
 
mjkelly said:
When the government can afford to subsidize the people who cannot afford it....
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Well, the argument could be made that if you can't afford third-party insurance, you shouldn't be allowed to drive. It's part and parcel of the cost of driving.

In any case, anything that discourages people from driving should be encouraged.
 
deweyzeph said:
Well, the argument could be made that if you can't afford third-party insurance, you shouldn't be allowed to drive. It's part and parcel of the cost of driving.

In any case, anything that discourages people from driving should be encouraged.
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I agree whole heartedly. I like the system in the UK, where insurance and a yearly MOT is compulsory. But just look at the change to digital television:

The PSC said that although government anticipates spending of about R2.45 billion to subsidise up to 70% of the Set Top Box costs for about five million poor households, the fact remains that poor communities are going to be affected significantly by the migration and that they will still be expected to fork out money if they are to receive a television transmission after 2011.
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Our government will never bring something into operation if it negatively affects the poor, who make up the majority of South Africa and who let's face it, elected our government. The only way they would do this is to make the people who can afford it, subsidize everyone else. And the flaw in this is, that the people we would then be subsidizing are exactly the people who we would hope has 3rd party insurance when they crash into us.

Therefore, just raise the petrol price and throw more money into the road accident fund in the hopes that it will solve the problem.... :rolleyes:
 
I agree. Compulsory third-party insurance and compulsory yearly roadworthy checks just isn't going to happen in South Africa for political reasons.

I think the idea of compulsory yearly roadworthies for vehicles older than 3 years old would actually be one of the single most effect tools against unroadworthy vehicles on our roads.

The current system of only checking the roadworthiness of a vehicle when it changes owners is ridiculous and makes no sense.
 
Will this also apply to those Metro and Police cars who drive how and at what speed they want? Or do I need to make government plates for my car :D or maybe paint my car in the same colours as Metro does. :p

Seriously, why can they get away with it, don't they monitor their drivers or something?
 
deweyzeph said:
I agree. Compulsory third-party insurance and compulsory yearly roadworthy checks just isn't going to happen in South Africa for political reasons.

I think the idea of compulsory yearly roadworthies for vehicles older than 3 years old would actually be one of the single most effect tools against unroadworthy vehicles on our roads.

The current system of only checking the roadworthiness of a vehicle when it changes owners is ridiculous and makes no sense.
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Afaik all trucks in South Africa need to get a yearly roadworthy inspection before a new license for the vehicle is issued.

If only the same could be applied to all vehicles on the road.
 
Serqet said:
This new system is hectic. I've received 2 summons' to appear in court for doing 121 and 123km on the highway, near roadworks.

They are not kidding around. People are going to be losing their licences left right and centre.
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You might want to consider that the speed limit near roadworks is always either 60km/h or 80km/h - which means you were 40km/h over the speed limit ...

So its no wonder you got a court summons.
 
Sackboy said:
AFAIK if you haven't converted you're illegal aren't you (1 yr?)
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Bwana has been driving with his UK licence for the past 10 years?

I was searching on the net and all sources stated you can drive legally in SA with any valid driver's licence with your photo, signature, and as long as it's in English.
 
shadowfox said:
You might want to consider that the speed limit near roadworks is always either 60km/h or 80km/h - which means you were 40km/h over the speed limit ...

So its no wonder you got a court summons.
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Well actually according to a lawyer it's illegal to trap near roadworks. I think to trap someone on a sunday when no construction is being done is a bit ridiculous. It was not reckless driving on my part.
 
Where were you caught, and were there camera signs. Cause I have seen some flashes in Midrand with no warnings nearby.
 
The government can introduce a ban law on cars on the road, it won't make any difference if you can pay-off a metro guy with R100.

I mean, why pay any of these fines when its more easier and cheaper to just bribe the cop?
 
I''ve been fined twice for speeding 75kph in a 60kph zone in Stellenbosch and twice for the same when I lived in Darling, that's a total of 4 fines over 22 years of driving and no accidents.

(As you drive up the last hill towards Darling, they hide in the shade of the tree lane leading into the village.)

(Stellenbosch has a camera as you enter from Somerset side and in summer they have mobile surprises.)

Traffic is well regulated in Stellenbosch, there are many schools here and of course the university, in the mornings during school peakhour, all major arteries are manually controlled by traffic officers (7:15am - 8:00am).

I have to drive past 5 schools to drop my son off at the other end of the dorp.

I once got pulled over in Thailand for speeding, but paid a 100 baht bribe and it does not count as a fine.

I did nothing wrong when driving in the UK, but I got lost big time driving up and down on the North and South near Cambridge for hours and once kept going round and round a big intersecting circle whilst someone was trying to direct me from a map.

I think it's important to have basic road manners.

- allow faster cars to pass you when it is clearly safe to do so (highways and national roads)
- always indicate your turning direction
- then all the other drivers know what your intentions are
- hooters are for emergency use and not for combat
- patience, it is futile to fume about congestion or idiotdrivers :)

I obey the traffic laws now, because I refuse to throw money away.
Is driving over the limit worth the money it costs in fines? no
 
deweyzeph said:
I agree. Compulsory third-party insurance and compulsory yearly roadworthy checks just isn't going to happen in South Africa for political reasons.

I think the idea of compulsory yearly roadworthies for vehicles older than 3 years old would actually be one of the single most effect tools against unroadworthy vehicles on our roads.

The current system of only checking the roadworthiness of a vehicle when it changes owners is ridiculous and makes no sense.
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And who is going to obey this law? Same as the new gun laws, only the law abiding citizen.

How are they going to know your car did not get a yearly roadwork test? By checking up on your license disk in the windscreen of your car.
So instead of me forking out another R300-00 p/a for a test, why not charge the traffic cops to do their job and pull over cars that are not roadworthy and impound them?

You can tell if a car is not roadworthy just by looking at is as it drives by, it's not that hard to spot.
 
deweyzeph said:
I agree. Compulsory third-party insurance and compulsory yearly roadworthy checks just isn't going to happen in South Africa for political reasons.
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There are actually practical issues.

I think the idea of compulsory yearly roadworthies for vehicles older than 3 years old would actually be one of the single most effect tools against unroadworthy vehicles on our roads.
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It's a good idea and the age should not matter. Although it won't keep unroadworthy cars off the road it can help, at the very least by encouraging people to maintain their cars because even so-called law-abiding citizens don't necessarily maintain their cars in roadworthy condition.

And of course people will buy roadworthy certificates. It happens in the UK.

MyWorld said:
why not charge the traffic cops to do their job and pull over cars that are not roadworthy and impound them?
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And they'll be able to do that if you can't demonstrate your car has been checked, and passed.

You can tell if a car is not roadworthy just by looking at is as it drives by, it's not that hard to spot.
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No need for all those tests then. Of course vehicles that look bad are most likely also not roadworthy, but it's no guarantee and nor is a car looking pristine.
 
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