Watch: Man critical after BMW smashes into lane divider in Cape Town

[noxibox]

“The Cape Town Traffic Services must adhere to strict prosecuting guidelines when conducting traffic violations enforcement by means of cameras or video cameras.

As well they should.

This country has the worst road carnage in the world

South Africa has high fatalities, but the worst in the world? I think it is also important to understand the sources of fatalities. How many are pedestrians? How many died because they failed to use their seatbelts? How many because they were in old, unsafe or poorly maintained vehicles?

and I’m sure you know what they say about drastic times needing drastic measures.

They say a lot of things, but that doesn't mean throwing away proper procedures and due process is a good idea in the name of expediency. What happens next when what seemed drastic fails to work? Get even more drastic?

The funny thing is people in SA seem to believe that because they disagree with politics, they 'allowed' to disobey laws..

It's rather a civic duty.

and then when fraud and corruption is endemic they point the finder at others forgetting that normalisation of law disobedience is the cause.

On the contrary even if such corruption were legal, and there's a lot of unethical and amoral corporate and financial behaviour that is entirely legal, it would still be wrong. So if anything has been normalised it is an attitude of every person for themselves. Because that is really the problem.

I'll say it again.. the decay in morality in SA has reached epic proportions and we are now dealing with the fall out.

Now you're talking about something that has nothing to do with the law. I know people often confuse the law with right and wrong though.

 

[noxibox]

This is why I'm glad I drive a Tata Indica. Fastest is like 120km/h that bad boy gets.

Assuming that is what the speedometer shows at maximum speed then you should stay off motorways with limits of 120kph. Your real speed will be lower than 120kph and driving slower endangers other people travelling at the limit.

 

[Rustum]

Assuming that is what the speedometer shows at maximum speed then you should stay off motorways with limits of 120kph. Your real speed will be lower than 120kph and driving slower endangers other people travelling at the limit.

But a speed limit is a *limit*, the maximum speed allowed - it's not an obligation to drive at 120kph. Typically, freeways have a *minimum* speed allowed, normally 80kph.

 

[NarrowBandFtw]

But a speed limit is a *limit*, the maximum speed allowed - it's not an obligation to drive at 120kph. Typically, freeways have a *minimum* speed allowed, normally 80kph.

Sadly we don't have a general minimum speed limit, only where the relevant signs are present, which results in more danger on the freeway than the speedsters imo

 

[Pineapple Smurf]

Sadly we don't have a general minimum speed limit, only where the relevant signs are present, which results in more danger on the freeway than the speedsters imo

I remember reading in the K53 book it is minimum 50km/h on ALL freeways. A sign doesn't have to be up i don't think.

 

[BrendanMc]

Sadly we don't have a general minimum speed limit, only where the relevant signs are present, which results in more danger on the freeway than the speedsters imo

I drive like a potato, If my car ever sees 100 km/h its a rarity, but, I do however stay in the left lane. Simple rule, keep left pass right. Not that difficult!

 

[rietrot]

But a speed limit is a *limit*, the maximum speed allowed - it's not an obligation to drive at 120kph. Typically, freeways have a *minimum* speed allowed, normally 80kph.

Our minimum speed is 50km/h on hiways. 80 isn't the minimum, that actually a maximum for most trucks and busses.

 

[SauRoNZA]

I trust by now everyone has seen the video from inside the BMW and ascertained that...

1. They weren’t going nearly as fast as the ridiculous claims.

2. The bike was clearly in his own league running his own race.

 

[Rustum]

Our minimum speed is 50km/h on hiways. 80 isn't the minimum, that actually a maximum for most trucks and busses.

"typically", "normally". There's no universal and fixed minimum speed for freeways. It's indicated by a blue sign where applicable.

I'm not talking about max speed for trucks, buses and minivan taxies.

 

[Craig_]

I trust by now everyone has seen the video from inside the BMW and ascertained that...

1. They weren’t going nearly as fast as the ridiculous claims.

2. The bike was clearly in his own league running his own race.

That bike passes that cars as if they are standing still. If that biker were to drive into a car at that speed that would be a disaster for whoever is in that car.

 

[krycor]

Now you're talking about something that has nothing to do with the law. I know people often confuse the law with right and wrong though.

You need a society with some core moral values to adhere to law when non-enforcing it is present. I've yet to see a society where morality is non-existent but law is obeyed and enforcement is limited. Exception being dictatorships and/or where citizens watched (thus enforcement is high).

Western democracies assume base sense of morality is a given which is why it fails in places like here where this is not a given. Right and Wrong in SA is a grey area for most as they more interested in which is better for them (financially most of the time too). So why do we expect law to be obeyed? Our enforcement is no better than anywhere else.

 

[dualmeister]

Perhaps he crashed because has was trying to film race with phone and no passenger actually

 

[qscwbt]

I guess you've never driven DSG in manual mode?

You then have control of the RPM, entry and exit speeds with the benefit of quicker gear changes.

Most of the new manual performance cars have launch control too.

Issue is most systems still override drive input.

 

[Dan C]

Perhaps he crashed because has was trying to film race with phone and no passenger actually

Also thought about that

 

[qscwbt]

Um.

Are you just messing with us?
In the same car, your manual is quicker than the equivalent DSG?
Or are you saying your manual 200kw vs an auto 100kw?

Not even the manufactures can do that themselves in the same car :/

my manual vs various dsg's.

 

[Iamnotageek]

Assuming that is what the speedometer shows at maximum speed then you should stay off motorways with limits of 120kph. Your real speed will be lower than 120kph and driving slower endangers other people travelling at the limit.

I rarely drive in the fast lane.

As mentioned I don't win a lot of races with my car.

 

[BrendanMc]

So, after having reviewed the videos again, I have a theory about what may have happened.
Again, I’m just speculating here, and am probably 100% wrong.
So watching the video from the inside of the car, the other BMW is trailing, for most of it, and seems to pass the Toyo vehicle moments before the impact.
On the first video that was released, you can see where the Toyo vehicle is in front, and the 2nd BMW overtakes him. At this point they both pass a vehicle in the middle lane and the Toyo vehicle moves to the right.
If you look carefully it looks like the back left of the vehicle its seems to shift to the left slightly, like it went over something, or hit an oil spot, he then tries to correct it and at that speed can’t react fast enough and ends up hitting the barrier. Interesting to note that the driver side hits the barrier and the vehicle does a 180 before going over the barrier. So the passenger side also took a significant knock

 

[SaiyanZ]

They must have dumped the passenger body somewhere.

 

[Dolby]

my manual vs various dsg's.

On a track normal everyday cars with dsg show how manual still out perform them

Had many straight line races in a manual vs dsg and it did not help them win

Oh but then that's a rather silly statement if you're not even talking about the same cars and just various DSGs ....

Some DSGs are faster than manual
Some manual are faster than DSG

The way you talk, sounds like every manual is faster than every auto ...

 

[Blue Shirt]

There is a thread over on BMW Fanatics where some posters seem to know the driver. Driver appears to be awake and recovering, albeit with no legs. Apparently the passenger only required some stitches to a finger.