Driver behaviour a cause for concern – traffic police
At least 70 people were arrested by the Gauteng Traffic Police for both reckless and negligent driving and driving under the influence of alcohol respectively.
Concerning driver behaviour will see various law enforcement agencies up the ante on their road safety education efforts, the Gauteng traffic police said this week.
“Driver behaviour on our roads is a major concern to law enforcement authorities which, therefore, calls for the strengthening of road safety education,” spokesperson Sello Maremane said.
This comes as the more than 70 people arrested at the beginning of last week and into the long weekend, were allegedly under the influence of alcohol.
“This poses a danger to the lives of road users,” he said.
To strengthen road safety education efforts, Maremane said the high speed unit would intensify its patrols in public places.
“The Gauteng traffic police high-speed unit will intensify the patrol of freeways, streets and public places in clearly marked vehicles to prevent road traffic violations, especially as we approach the Easter season,” he said.
“All drivers found disobeying the rules of our roads and continue to conduct themselves with impunity will be severely punished.”
Over the long weekend, Maremane said more than 40 drunken drivers were arrested during operations.
“The highest drunken driver was recorded at 1,09 milligrams per 1 000 litres and was arrested and kept in custody.”
Meanwhile, 34 drivers were arrested throughout the week, which commenced on 15 March through to Monday, 22 March after allegedly breaking road traffic laws and speeding excessively on major roads in the province.
The arrests were executed along major routes such as the N1 towards Limpopo, R21, N4 freeway to Mpumalanga and the N14, among others.
“The ages of the drivers ranged from an average age of 21 to 51 years,” Maremane said.
In one of the incidents, a 48-year-old male driver was arrested after he was recorded driving 233km/h in a 120 km/h zone on the N1.
“The speedsters were arrested on the spot and taken to various police stations where they were formally charged with reckless and negligent driving as well as an alternative charge of exceeding the general speed limit,” Maremane said.
Do you have more information about the story?
Please send us an email to editorial@rekord.co.za or phone us on 083 625 4114.
For free breaking and community news, visit Rekord’s websites: Rekord East
For more news and interesting articles, like Rekord on Facebook, follow us on Twitter or Instagram
