THE speed limit is not being decreased come 11 May and social media users are urged to practise caution when sharing information.
“Speed limits haven’t changed and trucks cannot be pulled off the road during certain hours,” reads a terse statement from the Automobile Association of South Africa (AA).
“We are getting several calls a day from concerned motorists over alleged changes to the speed limits, and operating hours laws. It’s evident in all these cases that motorists have misunderstood the difference between ‘law’ and ‘proposal’,” read the AA statement.
Changes to the National Road Traffic Act (NRTA) can only be put in place once the department of transport (DoT) has proposed such changes in the Government Gazette and a public comment period has been allowed for.
“Once the comment period closes, the DoT will then consider the comments received from the public and decide how to proceed. The law-making process is quite flexible, and just because something is proposed in the Government Gazette doesn’t mean it will necessarily become law.
In 2015, a proposal was published to reduce speed limits substantially. The same document proposed banning heavy vehicles from the roads between certain hours. However, lots of fairly draconian actions are proposed by the DoT, but few become law; they are either rejected outright or watered down in committee.
In the case of the speed and operating hours provisions, neither has been enacted as law and the status quo remains unchanged. In our opinion, both proposals are without merit, and we made submissions to the DoT to that effect,” according to the AA.
“For some reason, which is not immediately apparent to us, the DoT appears to have chosen to irresponsibly conflate actual promulgated amendments with draft amendments and this merely has the effect of spreading misinformation and confusing the public,” said Justice Project South Africa (JPSA) in a statement on its website.
Facebook users shared the news of the changes to the traffic regulations, with many panicking about reapplying for licenses and when the revised speed limits would come into place.
On 11 November, regulations 250 and 293 of the National Road Traffic Regulations (NRTR) were amended, neither of which relate to either speed limit reductions; the limiting of goods vehicles above 9,000kg GVM from public roads during peak traffic or the need to redo the practical exam when renewing a license.
‘Facebook warriors’, as the AA calls them, should refrain from spreading alarm.
“It would be more productive for people to make submissions to the DoT during the comment period, giving their views on a proposal, than for them to whip up a frenzy on social media when it’s too late,” said the AA.
“The amendment of Regulation 250 imposes no prohibition whatsoever on the conveyance of any person (school children not excluded) in the goods compartment of a motor vehicle where no fee is charged. Furthermore there is no prescript regarding the maximum number of persons who may be conveyed in the goods compartment of a motor vehicle contained in this amendment.
Instead of bolstering the prohibition of people on the back of bakkies and other goods vehicles for reward, this insertion has actually ‘legalised’ the transportation of any and all other persons in the goods compartment of a motor vehicle for reward, provided that the transport operator applies to and pays the DoT for a permit to do so.
Even if there were, the question must arise as to just how effective limiting the number of people conveyed in the goods compartment of a motor vehicle to five would be in preventing such persons from becoming human missiles and/or mitigate the possibility of their serious injury or death if/when a bakkie or other goods vehicle crashes.
JPSA is in full agreement with the Automobile Association of South Africa regarding its assertions that ‘the inefficiency of law enforcement agencies to enforce effectively the existing laws relating to speed limits’ is at the heart of speeding offences, but we must add that the improper enforcement of speed limits is far from the only problem we face on our roads.
Traffic law enforcement in South Africa is not practised consistently, ethically and in the interests of road safety. Instead there is more than ample evidence that it focusses primarily on revenue generation. Until this changes, no new laws, misinformation on what laws do actually exist and threats of extended incarceration without bail are going to have any effect on the situation,” said JPSA.
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