Motorists rack up fines, drunk driver nabbed

A car idles on Van Riebeeck Road, in Kuils River. The City says motorists in the Sub-council 21 precinct have racked up thousands of fines since December 2020.

Motorists racked up 25 562 fines, while 13 798 vehicles were caught speeding in the Sub-council 21 precinct from December 2020 to January this year.

This is according to the sub-council’s report on traffic-violations data collated for January, which was tabled at the March sitting.

The report includes only data collated before the new sub-council demarcation, which now comprises most of Kuils River, parts of Blackheath, Eerste River (South), Blue Downs, Camelot, and small tracts of Mfuleni and Macassar.

The old demarcation included only Kuils River, Blackheath industrial, small parcels of Mfuleni and Eerste River.

The report paints a worrying picture about motorists’ behaviour. The violations tracked were driving without licences, unaccompanied learner drivers, driving without professional driving permits, driving without helmets and disobeying road rules, among others.

According to the report, 191 motorists were fined for talking on the phone while driving and 1 436 for not wearing their safety belts; 2 332 unlicensed vehicles and 263 vehicles without number plates were pulled over; 1546 unlicensed drivers were stopped; and 15 374 motorists were fined or arrested for failing to pay traffic fines.

Meanwhile, during a Metro Police operation on Saturday April 9, a vehicle was seen running a red light on the corner of Station and Van Riebeeck roads in Kuils River, which is near the police station.

“The driver ignored instructions to pull over, and sped off instead, with officers in pursuit,” said mayoral committee for safety and security JP Smith.

“He collided with another vehicle and was arrested for driving under the influence, reckless and negligent driving, and resisting arrest.

“This driver proves drunk driving is never a good idea. He showed impaired judgement by fleeing, he caused an accident even though no one was injured, and he was still arrested and now has several charges against him.”