DJ, dolls take to the road
2006-10-26 09:16
Johannesburg - Highveld 94.5 DJ Darren Wackhead Simpson and his passengers "Caprice" and "Debbie" made heads turn on the Ben Schoeman highway between Pretoria and Johannesburg on Wednesday.
"Caprice" and "Debbie" are inflatable dolls bought at a sex shop.
Simpson wanted to see if metro police officials, on standby to enforce the right-hand-lane rule, would realise he was trying to fool them with his two "passengers".
"The first two metro police officials realised too late the two girls were actually dolls. The third one ordered me to get out of the right-hand lane, which I did, but just for a short distance.
"When the fourth official saw me and I just waved when he ordered me to move out of the fast lane, two metro police cars approached me and ordered me to stop on the shoulder," Simpson said.
He was busy talking on his cellphone to his colleagues in the studio.
"Several motorists saw the dolls while I was driving and they smiled and waved.
"When the metro police officials approached my car, I could see they wanted to laugh. I said the girls and I had gone out and that I was taking them home."
They fined Simpson R500 for talking on the cellphone while driving, but laughed about the dolls.
Johannesburg metro police spokesperson Wayne Minnaar said motorists with dolls as passengers won't be allowed to drive in the right-hand lane during peak hours.
"Dolls are dolls and not people. People could carry dolls in their cars if they want to, as long as they don't expect to drive in the right-hand lane."
The right-hand-lane rule has been implemented as a test project from Monday to Friday.
The rule stipulates that only vehicles with three or more people can use the right-hand lane of the highway during peak hours.
It is applicable to traffic travelling from Pretoria to Johannesburg in the mornings and Johannesburg to Pretoria in the afternoons.