Do as I say and not as I do?
JOBURG – Traffic law enforcement officers not leading by example – Dembovsky.
The sight of a traffic official wearing a safety belt in their official vehicle is rare and possibly one that most road users look forward to witnessing.
While these officials are charged with maintaining the law on the roads, some of them are a law unto themselves. How many times have you witnessed traffic law enforcement officers talking on their cellphones while driving? According to the Road Traffic Act, all road users are supposed to adhere to all the road traffic rules.
Howard Dembovsky of the Justice Project South Africa said traffic law enforcement officers were not the exception to the rule. “This includes talking on the cellphone, having their safety belts on, driving within the allowed speed limit and adhering to all traffic signs,” he said.
According to him, the only time officers may disregard traffic signals is when they have their blue lights (emergency lights) with the siren on. He added that some law enforcement officers’ behaviour could be seen as arrogant which could easily be seen as if they are saying, ‘Do as I say and not as I do’. “It’s disappointing that people who enforce the law against transgressors fail to uphold the same law that they expect people to uphold,” he said.
Spokesperson for Metro police, Chief Superintendent Wayne Minnaar stated that the National Road Traffic Act did exempt traffic officers in certain instances during the execution of their duties. “Officers can use a traffic island or yellow lane to stop an offender in order to allow the free flow of traffic and not obstruct it.”
Minnaar added that all their officers have gone through intensive training which, among others, included defensive and advanced driving which prepared and enabled them to execute their duties. Minnaar emphasised that there was no excuse for officers to drive without a safety belt on.
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