Joburg motorist caught driving at 189km/h

The new year got off to a very bad start for a Johannesburg motorist after he was caught speeding at 189km/h.

The driver was among seven others who were arrested on the first day of 2023.

The Johannesburg Metropolitan Police Department (JMPD) also recorded more than 6 000 speeding violations by motorists.

JMPD spokesperson Xolani Fihla said the department intensified efforts to clamp down on speedsters as holidaymakers return to their homes.

New Year arrests

“On New Year’s Day, the High-Speed Unit of the Johannesburg Metropolitan Police Department (JMPD) arrested a total of seven motorists for speeding. This included one incident where a motorist was driving at a speed of 189km/h in a 120km/h zone.”

“All suspects were detained at the Lenasia South SAPS and released on R1 500 bail,” Fihla said.

Human behaviour

In December, Minister of Transport Fikile Mbalula warned that drivers must be responsible on the roads.

“Human behaviour continues to contribute to the carnage which we see on our roads, drivers are, therefore, urged to drive cautiously and decrease their speed.”

Festive season clampdown

Meanwhile, the Gauteng Traffic Department (GTD) said they had to deal with several incidents of pedestrians drinking in public, walking along or crossing freeways.

According to GTD spokesperson Obed Sibasa, the province recorded a lot of fatal road crashes since the start of the festive.

Crashes

“More than 100 fatal road crashes have been recorded to date and most of them can be attributed to attitude and behaviour of road users such as unsafe overtaking resulting in head-on collisions, over speeding and pedestrians jaywalking,” said Sibasa.

The Road Traffic Management Corporation (RTMC) said more than 3 000 people were already arrested the day before New Year’s Eve for various road traffic infringements.

RTMC added that 196 166 traffic fines have been issued, 3 679 vehicles impounded, while 4 448 drivers were also arrested for various offences including drunken driving, speeding, reckless and negligent driving, as well as driving without driving licenses.

Additional reporting by By Stephen Tau

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