AA has its say on ‘blue light brigades’

“Driving recklessly so a principal can be on time for a meeting does not constitute an emergency for the rest of the motoring public and it is shameful to think or act otherwise.”

This was the sentiment of the Automobile Association (AA) in a recent statement regarding blue light brigades.

Citing a 2023 ‘vicious assault’ that took place on the N1 in Gauteng, the association said it was an example of how blue light brigade drivers behave towards other motorists, spreading a message that their passengers are of more importance than anyone else on the road.

The AA further said there was an ever-increasing amount of anecdotal evidence that the occupants of blue light convoys ‘violently gesticulate and show their firearms at other motorists, and are ‘generally belligerent on the road’.

The association has raised concerns about this many times over the years through calls for proper oversight of VIP unit operations, to no avail.

It said it should be the priority of those being transported to ensure their drivers are acting professionally and ethically.

“Allowing these officers to act the way they do sends a message to the public that they are above the law, which they are not,” said the AA.

Section 58(3) of the National Road Traffic Act (NRTA) allows drivers of emergency vehicles and ‘duly authorised drivers’, as well as a ‘person appointed in terms of the South African Police Service Act who drives a vehicle in the carrying out of his or her duties’, to disregard the directions of a road traffic sign in the ‘prescribed manner’.

It is also regulation for other motorists to give right of way to vehicles sounding sirens or with identification lights.

“However, we contend that any driver who drives recklessly or is careless about the safety of other users on the road should be held liable for gross negligence where they pose a threat to property or another person, whether they are driving a politician, delegate, VIP, or a car fitted with a blue light, just like any other road user,” concluded the AA.

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