Here are four traffic laws you probably didn’t even know existed
There are many stories out there of policeman accusing motorists of fictitious ‘crimes’ to scare them into a ‘donation’ of some sort – but the real crime would be to lose points for doing something you didn’t even know was against the law. Here are the top 4 not-so-well-known laws of the road that you should know about!
1. Emergency triangle
All cars are expected to carry a red emergency triangle, which must be placed at least 45m behind a stationary vehicle to alert other drivers. This rule has been in effect since 2003, says Howard Dembovsky, chairman of Justice Project South Africa (JPSA). ‘The charge code for not carrying at least one warning triangle in your vehicle applies to all vehicles first registered after 1 July 2006,’ he says.
FINE: R500 for not having a red emergency triangle in your car, and 1 demerit point on your licence. The fine for not using the emergency triangle when your car is stationary is R250.
2. Even speeding a little can hurt You might not consider yourself a speed freak but driving even slightly over the speed limit can now get you into considerable trouble. Most people believe that driving at a ridiculous speed such as 220km/h is the only way to get a criminal record, says Dembovsky. ‘What you don’t know is that driving 30km/h over any speed limit is a crime. So even driving at 100km/h could mean jail time,’ he says. ‘If you’re travelling 40km/h over the speed limit, you immediately get a criminal record and will spend at least a night in a jail.’
FINE: Usually from R250 to R1 500, and up to five demerit points on your licence.
3. Better fill up just to be safe Many of us have put off a trip to the petrol station – only to end up stuck on the side of the road. Recently we were told that an empty tank could land you a fine. Johannesburg Metropolitan Police Department (JMPD) spokesperson Wayne Minnaar announced that if your car gets stuck on the side of a freeway because you’ve run out of petrol, you would be fined between R500 and R1 000. Your car would also be towed and you’d have to pay R835 to recover it.
Then Rob Handfield-Jones, driver-training expert, released a statement informing the public that you can’t be arrested for running out of fuel because there’s no legal requirement for a motor vehicle to have a fuel gauge fitted. ‘There’s no law in the National Road Traffic Act or the AARTO Act that refers to fuel gauges or running out of fuel,’ confirms Dembovsky. ‘Neither Wayne Minnaar nor the JMPD may make up the law as they go along. Anyone who does receive a fine for this bogus offence should defend it in court,’ he says.
4. How much is too much?
Getting a ticket for a traffic offense is unpleasant, no matter how small the penalty. But when you’re told that the fine for a single misdemeanour amounts to more than R1 500, someone’s trying to take advantage of you. A traffic officer may not issue a fine for more than R1 500 for one infringement, says Dembovsky. So if exhorbitant amounts such as R2 000 are bandied about, hit record on your cellphone – you’re probably being taken for a ride.
‘What they can do is put up to three misdemeanours on a single AARTO infringement notice, and then you’ll have to pay the total amount of those fines,’ Dembovsky explains.
For more information on traffic fines visit the AARTO (Administrative Adjudication of Road Traffic Offences) webpage.