80% of motorists speed
2005-10-26 16:59
Johannesburg - Nearly two million motorists have been caught speeding on Johannesburg's roads since last November under the metro police's Operation Token Days.
"On average, 70 to 80% of motorists exceed the speed limit," metro police spokesperson chief superintendent Wayne Minnaar said on Wednesday.
He said the majority of the 1 907 675 fines issues were for offences committed on the city's freeways, which carried about 1.6 million vehicles a day - 800 000 of them from other municipalities such as Tshwane and Ekurhuleni.
While the total number of offences was "unacceptably high", a decrease in speeding over the course of the campaign showed that the metro police's hard work was paying dividends.
"We're noticing from January to March there is an increase in speeding offences; from March to October, there is a decrease.
"What this means is that we are now getting people who are thinking twice before speeding on the freeways."
Minnaar said 111 900 motorists had been fined for jumping red robots and 21 836 arrested on outstanding traffic warrants under Operation Bumble-Bee - one of the nine sections into which Operation Token Days is divided.
The 500-day Operation Token Days began on November 9 last year and will end in April next year.
Under the visible policing aspect of the project, Operation Jozi, 567,581 vehicles had been stopped in roadblocks, 425,516 vehicles searched and 670 people arrested for drinking and driving.
Raids on night clubs, restaurants and taverns, as part of Operation Knight Life, had seen the arrests of 981 people for crimes ranging from murder, rape, assault and theft to possession of drugs and firearms, theft and pointing of firearms.
Metro police officers had issued 3 863 discontinuance notices to minibus taxis to keep them off the roads until they were repaired, as part of Operation Winged Heart, said Minnaar.
They also impounded 2 290 taxis which were "falling apart" and not fit to be on the roads at all, he added.
Not just intent on ticketing, metro police had embarked on a programme with the Dobsonville, Roodepoort, Leratong and Johannesburg Taxi Association (Dorljota), under which free roadworthy tests were conducted on all 1 200 of the association's taxis, he said.
The metro police's highly publicised Operation Nude Ant raids on hawkers had so far resulted in the issuing of 10 175 fines and the impounding of the wares of 19 195 informal traders.
Operation Nude Ant, concentrating on the enforcement of municipal by-laws, had also resulted in 1 227 fines for illegal dumping and the impounding of 62 365 illegal posters.
Other components of Operation Token Days are operations:
- Clean Audit, into corruption at licensing and testing centres;
-- Licensing, aimed at stolen and unroadworthy vehicles;
- Sethunya, on stolen and illegal firearms; and
- Fundisa, on training of officers.
- SAPA