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5 new SA road rules: What users say...

<b>NEW RULES A JOKE?</B> Wheels24 users respond to five new road laws proposed for South Africa.<i>Image:</i>
<b>NEW RULES A JOKE?</B> Wheels24 users respond to five new road laws proposed for South Africa.<i>Image:</i>

Cape Town - Earlier in 2015, Wheels24 reported on new draft road and traffic regulations for South Africa by the National Transport Department.

Draft regulations intended to reduce road carnage include slower speed limits, the banning of carrying children in a bakkie load bay and restricting the use of heavy vehicles on public roads.

READ: New road rules for SA: 5 laws Govt want to pass

The Justice Project South Africa chairman, Howard Dembovsky, said: "There's no telling when or if these drafts will be passed because road safety is clearly not a priority (for the Transport Department)" and claims the proposals were "bastardised by persons at the Department of Transport".

Wheels24 users respond

Here's what YOU had to say about the 5 new laws for South African roads:

Nico Barkhuizen says: 'All I can say is: “Seriously?”

The reason for that is this: New rules will in no way reduce deaths.
Pessimistic? I don’t think so. Rather realistic.

 • The authorities cannot even enforce the current rules and regulations properly, so clearly these new rules are solely aimed at making more money for the fiscus and not to reduce deaths.
 • Perhaps also, these new rules are aimed at scoring cheap political points so close to local government election time?
 • All of that perhaps ... never solely to reduce deaths.
 • I refer to the massive number of un-roadworthy taxis on our roads.
 • I see not one new regulation aimed at reducing that number or of harsher penalties for Taxi drivers causing deaths.
 • Do the authorities seriously believe that a fully roadworthy passenger vehicle travelling at 120km/h is the same level of threat to life as an unroadworthy (or any) fully laden minibus taxi travelling on the same road at 120km/h?
 • I further refer to the massive numbers of taxis seeing emergency lanes as their own personal “dedicated” taxi lanes.
 • I refer even more sceptically to the numbers of taxis seen every day driving on the wrong side of the road against oncoming traffic in order to bypass stationary traffic in just as much of a need to get to work in the mornings.

First stop those behaviours completely and then come to us with NEW regulations. Perhaps then we will be able to take it “seriously”.

Omar Butler says: Great news,however what laws are going to prevent Taxi drivers from behaving correctly on our roads.They are a huge menace and are irrespossible causing accidents and mayhem everywhere.

Chris says: Don’t agree with renewing licences or reduced speed limits.

Bruce Clemence says: How many major accidents involve heavy trucks? Nearly all!!

Heavy trucks are all travelling way above their 80km/h limit. I have never seen ONE apprehended for this. Heavy trucks should be BANNED on all public roads from 6pm on Fridays until 12 midnight on Sundays.


Mandla says: I believe this change is not feasible because of the resource that government need to implement or manage this change. Some areas are not having enough test ground and competent assessor.

If one need to book for evaluation now for driver license sometime they give date of 2 few months later. If you can think about it, SA has more than 12 million people with driver license that means more than 500 000 people must be re-evaluated a month plus the new applications. The country isn't gear up for this change.

Rob Bartelink says: Regulation 1 – two issues, firstly with the corruption rife in most licensing centres this will become a worse than useless, frustrating and ineffective exercise, and secondly, and assuming my first point is overcome, the “re-evaluation” exercise should be a brief road (as in drive on it) test only to check if speed limits road signs etc are obeyed. Anything more will be counterproductive due to the administration required.

• Regulation 2 & 3 – excellent ideas! Why was this not implemented years ago?

• Regulation 4 – given the already VERY frustrated motorist who are already the chosen soft targets for additional taxation, e-tolls (read corruption taxation), fines (read taxation), a reduction in speed limits as proposed will only add to already high frustration levels. These proposed regulations show that the burden for road safety is placed on the shoulders of motorists with no recognition or acknowledgement of the exceedingly poor standards at licencing centres and poor performance and misguided concentration of the majority of metro police departments who focus on revenue collection and the achievement of revenue collection targets instead of real-time safety issues.

• Regulation 5 – excellent idea! Again, should have been implemented a long time ago. 


Penny Douglas says: All this is doing is making money. So many rules and regulations are brought out but never, ever policed. Waste of time and our money.

Why were they never debated in Parliament earlier in the year after that horrific accident in PMB.


Pat Masemola says: Removing heavy duty vehicles is great but the rest is just bull.
Why am I still paying so much to renew my licence with the useless barcode when I passed my learners and drivers tests and who forgets driving if they haven't been chronically sick?

Longer driving time equals fatigue. Reduce seed limits and face more fatigue-related accidents. The current speed limit keeps a measure of adrenalin pumping into the system and keeps one awake. Slower drivers are prone to losing concentration and fall asleep because the mind relaxes, starts to loose focus on driving and wanders.

Forced slower driving does not amount to relaxation it induces anxiety then a rise in road rage. They should look properly into things before putting them into law.


Aldrin Bunche says: Reducing speed will not curb the problems. These steps look to increase fine revenues or licensing office revenues. How about active policing ? Like the below:

1. People cross over solid or double barrier lines all time

2. Mandatory turn signs are ignored

3. Indicators are seldom used. A bakkies load-bed should be as the name suggests for loading, this way ONLY 5 people might get killed instead of 20.

Webster Hlale says: I think it certainly is a great idea to focus on road safety as we head into the busiest times on road in the year. 

I think it is also of paramount importance that the ignorance of road users such as taxis and buses be looked at as these have no consideration whereas the unfortunate situation is passengers are transported. 

I support this initiative and would gladly comply in the hope of the reduction of road fatalities and preservation of South African lives not singling out any nationalities. 


Yegen Moodley says via Facebook: That's not going to solve the problem. What the government needs to do is visit their licencing department and get rid of those driving instructors and realise that those people buying their licence are the danger on the roads,not the speed we drive.If it were, explain the autobahn in the other countries. I mean be realistic... Are we going to start pushing our cars next? And clearly if you are a driver,you would realise those people not following the speed limit and driving slow, as well as fast, are causing accidents as well as taxis and buses and trucks....Bottom line: if you are an inexperienced, uneducated and fail to follow simple rules of the road, carry a jaws of life next time you drive.

Win with General Tire: #SARoadTrip

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