6188 fines issued from 5 to 11 January

Mpumalanga traffic officials continued where they left off in 2014 after issuing 6 188 traffic fines to motorists for violating traffic regulations.

The fines were issued during week-long operations across the province which ran from 5 to 11 January.

The Community Safety, Security and Liaison MEC, Mr Vusi Shongwe, hailed the officers, in a press release on 14 January, saying their continued hard work will help to bring errant drivers to book, thereby saving lives.

He encouraged them to carry on with same vigour to impact positively on government’s road safety initiatives.

Fines were issued for offences ranging from speeding, failure to obey traffic rules, driving without proper documentation to driving a vehicle with defects.

Altogether 79 motorists were also arrested and 73 summoned for failing to pay their outstanding fines, one arrested for driving under the influence of alcohol, two were further nabbed for excessive speed and others for overloading.

Altogether 243 vehicles were discontinued, while 215 were impounded for not being roadworthy.

Mr Shongwe commended the traffic officers saying this should be the order of the day and motorists must not escape the hand of law if they fail to obey the rules of the road. “We must create an environment where motorists will fear to commit an offence and 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 also said communities must play their part by reporting bad driving to authorities so that action is taken against wrongdoers.