R1 000 fast lane fine to be withdrawn

A CITY motorist fined R1 000 for refusing to give way while driving in the fast lane says authorities told him that, while the fine would be withdrawn, he would still have to go to court.

In July last year, Steven Taylor, 28, was doing about 130km/h in the fast lane on the N1 towards Cape Town when an unmarked Ghost Squad (City Traffic special unit) car approached behind him and flashed its headlights, indicating he should give way.

When he failed to move out of the lane, the Ghost Squad officer switched on the vehicle’s blue lights, pulled him over and fined him R1 000 for inconsiderate driving. Taylor, a Parow resident appeared in court on January 17, pleaded not guilty and was due back in court for judgment on March 6. But last week, he was informed by the National Prosecuting Authority and Department of Transport that the fine would be withdrawn, but not before the court process had run its course.

”In terms of the National Road Traffic Act, the only time one is supposed to yield for traffic coming from the rear is when that vehicle is an emergency vehicle or law enforcement vehicle,” the Transport Department’s acting chief director of road transport regulation, John Motsatsing, wrote to Taylor.

“The whole thing has been so unnecessary. It should have been sorted out a long time ago,” Taylor said yesterday.