Negligent driving is an offence

This according to councillor Michael Sun, the Shadow MMC on Public Safety in the City of Johannesburg who said Metro police were duty- bound to receive complaints and deal with the offender if the complainant was able to furnish sufficient and concrete evidence.

Sun was responding to a case of negligent driving which was recorded on a motorists’ dash cam in Sandton. Metro police spokesperson, Wayne Minnaar was asked whether the video footage from the dash cam could be submitted to the officials as evidence of the negligent driving incident. “A traffic offence is not a criminal offence,” he explained. “It is a third schedule offence which means that an officer in full uniform must see the offence in order to file a charge.” Minnaar added that if the negligent driving was a regular occurrence at a regular spot, then Metro police could be notified so that officers could be deployed to monitor that specific area.

Sun countered by saying that in terms of Section 13(2) of the South African Police Services Act 68, it is stated that if a police member becomes aware that a prescribed offence has been committed, he shall inform his commanding officer thereof as soon as possible. In addition, Sun said Section 13(1) of the Act stated that subject to the Constitution and with due regard to the fundamental rights of every person, a police member may exercise such powers and shall perform such duties and functions as are by law conferred on or assigned to a police official.

“The JMPD, National or Provincial Traffic Police and Saps cannot refuse to deal with contraventions of laws including traffic offences if such are reported to them by a responsible member of the public,” said Sun. “It will obviously assist the law enforcement agencies if proper and clear information and evidence are provided to them.

“If the reason for refusal to prosecute was because no police officer was on the scene of the offence at the time, then none of the speed camera prosecutions can ever stand in a court of law.”

Sun urged the public to be part of keeping the roads safe and use appropriate means to safely capture any offences and report it to the relevant authorities. “We all spend so much time on the road,” he said. “If we made a joint effort in rooting out dangerous driving and offences committed on our roads, we will all be safer commuting.”

The public is also encouraged to make use of the Road Traffic Management Corporation hotline to report any bad driving.

Details: 0861 400 800.

Watch a video and read the story of a negligent driver caught in the act in Sandton, and tell Sandton Chronicle in the comments below if you have been faced with a negligent driver on the road.