Metro police damaged beyond repair

While Metro police prepare to justify in court why at least nine million questionable traffic fines should not be scrapped, motorists are rejoicing that someone is finally standing up to these bullies in uniform.

At the heart of the matter is that Metro police may not collect its own fines, as reported in The Times newspaper. According to the report, Metro police should legally not act as judge, jury and executioner on traffic law enforcement.

But it did, and Fines4U – a company that specialises in the legal reduction of traffic fines – has asked the High Court to nullify fines amounting to billions of rand, issued between March 2010 and December 2012.

Fines4U has also accused the Road Traffic Infringement Agency and the Road Traffic Management Corporation of standing idle while the Metro police flouted regulations.

But a search on customer service website, Hellopeter revealed Metro police problems go deeper than meets the eye.

One motorist wrote that Metro police deployed a learner pointsman during peak hour which resulted in traffic congestion. Another claimed he received fines he knew nothing about, and with the registration number of the photographed vehicle not visible.

There was a complaint about a R1 000 fine given to a motorist for veering into the emergency lane to avoid crashing into two vehicles. Another motorist said he was issued a fine because he would not pay a requested bribe for driving with an expired licence disc.

Driving on the right hand side to avoid potholes also earned a motorist a R2 000 fine, even though there was no car coming in the opposite direction at the time.

These are in addition to ‘normal’ traffic enforcement acts such as speed-trapping on a downhill.

The Fines4U case is just the tip of the iceberg. Metro police and its traffic law enforcement strategies are damaged beyond repair and need a complete overhaul.