Cops must stop drag races: Ndebele

2011-04-04 23:14

Pretoria - Transport Minister Sbu Ndebele on Monday urged law enforcement officials to crack down on illegal drag racing after three people were killed in an apparent drag race at the weekend.

"Law enforcement officers are expected to know where these illegal drag races are taking place and they must stop the racing before it even starts," he said.

Ndebele said that law enforcement should not be afraid to confiscate vehicles or suspend licences if it would prevent illegal drag racing.

"We are calling upon law enforcement agencies to do everything possible to put an end to illegal drag racing, especially in Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal.

The department would even assist to arrange legal races, but illegal drag racing would not be tolerated.

Two people died on the scene and a third died later in hospital after crash involving two vehicles in Gezina around 20:00.

The two cars crashed into two other cars, which were not taking part in the race.

One of the vehicles crashed into a pole and burst into flames and the other broke apart when it hit another pole.

Synchronisation

Tshwane safety and security spokesperson William Baloyi said the city of Tshwane had approached engineers for advice on how to make Voortrekker Road safer after the death of the three in an apparent drag race at the weekend.

Tshwane safety and security spokesperson William Baloyi said: "We are looking at a multitude of possible solutions."

One of the options under consideration was for the city to change the synchronisation of robots on that road so that not all robots were green at the same time.

Another option was building speed bumps, but that came with a different set of problems.

"That is a very busy road and speed bumps might contribute to traffic congestion during heavy traffic flow."

He said the city was waiting for feedback from engineers before any decisions would be taken.

The DA called on the city's mayor on Monday morning to "intervene immediately to stop the illegal racing in Voortrekker Road on Sunday evenings", said Moot councillor Elmarie Linde in a statement.

"We have submitted two petitions in the last four years requesting action, but to no avail.

"It is time that the mayor visits Voortrekker Road on a Sunday evening to see for himself what is happening there," said DA councillor Hendrik Fourie of Ward 53.

- SAPA