OF FLAGGED CARS
Car owners unhappy with police flagging system Who pays? Driver or the registered car owner? Flag driver’s licence of offender, Police advised
Some c a r owner s a r e disgruntled that their cars get flagged by the Police Traffic department even in cases where they were not driving the car at the time of the offence.
A concerned car owner, Tiro Matsadi, who uses only two of his three vehicles, said this practice is unfair and called for the amendment of the Traffic Act, so that the driver’s licence of the offender is flagged, and not the car.
“I have a matter where offences were committed with a car registered in my name, and I was not aware that the said car was flagged, until recently when I went for vehicle registration renewal,” he said.
Botswana Police director of Traffic, Katlholo Mosimanegape, told The Midweek Sun that the current practice of flagging a car is compliant with the Road Traffic Act.
He said a vehicle owner is automatically connected to any offence carried out with a vehicle registered in their name.
He explained that when a vehicle is stopped by traffic officers for any road offence or violation, the particulars that are taken down by the officer, are those of the person driving the vehicle at that particular time.
“The traffic officer asks for the driver’s licence of the driver, takes down the details and if they don’t pay for the charge on the spot, they are told which police station to pay at,” he said.
He said they don’t routinely enquire after car registration details, except if there are some suspicions.
“We don’t interfere and ask whose car it is, unless it is necessary, premised on a suspicion we might have; there is no validity, by law, for a traffic officer to question who the owner of the vehicle is,” he said.
Mosimanegape said while this might seem unfair, the system helps in cases of stolen cars, but pointed out that it called for accountability and responsibility on the part of car owners and licensed drivers.
He said it helps traffic police track down road violation offenders easily.
“If your car is flagged and the violation charge is not paid for, our officers will contact you as the person who the vehicle is registered under. If you had not been driving the car at the particular time of the offence, then you are liable to assist the officers find the person who was,” he said.
He indicated that some drivers present traffic officers with wrong information on their physical address, home village, contact details and occupation in many cases after they
are given a charge.
He said many car owners aren’t willing to pay for that charge, and are forced to help trace the offender.
Mosimanegape expressed concern over a worrying trend where some people were not aware that their cars had been flagged for offences.
“We have instances whereby, say for example, someone travels out of town and leaves their car. They might hide the keys, or have a spare key somewhere, and someone among their family and friends is aware of this, and takes their car and uses it without permission.
When the person commits an offence on the road, they don’t inform the owner.”
He however said that once they had communicated with the car owner
who clarified that they were not driving the vehicle on that occasion, they would not hold them responsible for the offence, as long as they helped them track the offender.
Mosimanegape pointed out that another common occurrence was in instances where car ownership details are not changed, and offences pile up. He cautioned Batswana to avoid underhand dealings as they might get them in trouble.
“Some of our people don’t do things in a legal and straightforward manner… in some cases, someone will use a car that is not registered in their name; maybe they haven’t changed names and handed over the blue book because the new owner has not paid the balance due on the car payment, so they agree to only hand over the blue
book once they have paid. So, the new owner and associates commit offences with the car, which backfires on the previous owner.”
He said some people aren’t sincere in their dealings, and sometimes take issues of security for granted. Mosimanegape said to avoid such sticky situations, car owners should avoid lending anyone their vehicle, and if they do lend them, it should be to people they trust, who will be accountable for offences.
He encouraged car owners to change ownership registration particulars once they sell a car. He also urged members of the public to avoid misusing other people’s cars, especially taking (stealing) them, and using them without the consent of the owners.