Biker caught doing 275km/h
2005-03-23 09:21
Durban - A motorbiker on holiday in KwaZulu-Natal was caught speeding at 275km an hour and fined R31,000, the traffic department said on Wednesday.
The man repeatedly tried to escape, and traffic officials had to block the entire N2 before they could bring him to a halt, said spokesperson Collin Govender.
On Tuesday afternoon a routine speed timing exercise on the N2 caught Pretoria businessman Johanes Gerhard Barkhurzen driving at 275km an hour near Sezela on the south coast.
"This is the highest speed recorded in the province in a decade," Govender said.
The bike was displaying no number plates, and the biker sped off onto side roads without stopping - easily loosing the officials who chased after him.
Although he was forced to get back onto the highway he repeatedly escaped officials, until they finally blocked off the entire N2, and brought him to a halt.
'We had to put cars across the freeway. It blocked traffic in both directions," Govender said.
Barkhurzen was taken to a roadside court where he was fined R30 000 for speeding, and R1 000 for not stopping. He paid R7 000 up front, and the magistrate agreed to let him pay the rest in instalments, Govender said.
Traffic authorities were getting tough on motorists who thought they could avoid fines by obscuring or displaying false number plates, he said.
"We are going to impound vehicles that we catch with obscured, damaged, or illegal registration plates. This will inconvenience the driver and his passengers."
This was a critical offence, Govender said, and was becoming very prevalent.
He said a large proportion of the speeding vehicles caught on camera could not be prosecuted because of this habit.
"Since Friday we have caught 51 motorists will illegal, obscured, or damaged registration plates."
- SAPA