Motorist punished for not obeying rules

MBOMBELA – Mpumalanga traffic officials worked around the clock over the past weekend to ensure that motorists arrived safely at their destinations.

According to the spokesman for community safety, security and liaison, Mr Joseph Mabuza, the traffic officers issued a total of 3 299 fines for offences ranging from speeding and failure to obey traffic rules to driving without proper documentation and driving a vehicle with defects. A total of 297 70 vehicles were furthermore stopped and tested during the operations and
80 vehicles were discontinued while 120 were impounded for not being roadworthy.
“At least 12 motorists were also arrested,” Mabuza confirmed.

A 32-year-old man was arrested on the N4 between Waterval Boven and Machadodorp for driving under the influence of alcohol. The driver was detained at Waterval Boven Police Station and released on R1 500 bail.

According to Mabuza, another driver was arrested in Machadodorp after travelling at 163 kilometres per hour in an 80 kilometres per hour zone. He was arrested and had since been granted R1 000 bail. The suspect will appear in court again on May 13.
In another case a 39-year-old woman was arrested for driving under the influence of alcohol. Mabuza said the driver was detained at Machadodorp Police Station and was granted R500 bail. Meanwhile four vehicles were impounded in Komatipoort for failing to produce permits. Five drivers were also arrested at different locations for overloading.

Community safety, security and liaison MEC, Mr Vusi Shongwe, hailed the officers saying their continued hard work would assist in bringing errant drivers to book thereby saving lives. He encouraged them to carry on with the same vigour in order to impact positively on government’s road-safety initiatives.

Shongwe commended the traffic officers saying this should be the order of the day and motorists must not escape the might of law if they failed to obey the rules of the road. “We must create an environment where motorists will fear to commit offence; in this way, we will have fewer crashes on our roads caused by human error,” he said.

The MEC once more reiterated his call to road users to respect traffic rules and other road users. He maintained that communities had to play their part by reporting bad driving to authorities so that action could be taken against wrongdoers.