Cape Town - A city traffic officer was dragged behind a vehicle while trying to remove the car keys of a drag-racer he had chased down and stopped in Mitchells Plain.
He had pursued two drag racers as they were dicing early on Sunday. When he eventually caught up with them, one of them smashed into his vehicle. The other escaped.
The officer reached into the drag racer’s car to try to remove the keys. The drag-racer sped off, dragging the officer, whose torso was “halfway” in the vehicle.
City traffic spokesman Maxine Jordaan said: “He injured his left arm, his left leg and was bruised on the side of the face. He was bruised all over.”
“The drag racer got away, but we are looking for him and, trust me, we will find him.”
“We will get both of them.”
The officer was taken to hospital, where he was treated and discharged.
This came a day after a traffic officer was hurt when a drunk driver ran through a red light in Wetton and collided with his vehicle on Saturday.
The mayoral committee member for safety and security, JP Smith, said the driver had sped off after the collision, but was arrested in Kenilworth.
It was found that he was three times over the legal blood-alcohol limit.
Smith said: “These incidents serve as examples of the mindless behaviour that we deal with on our roads in our pursuit to work with residents to create a safe city.
“Reckless drivers not only place the lives of law-abiding members of the public at risk, but also those who have to police the streets. I am thankful that our officers walked away from these incidents without major injuries”
Over the weekend, traffic officers nabbed 80 motorists for drunk driving and six for reckless and negligent driving.
Thev driver of a BMW M3 was caught driving at 200km/h on the N1 and was pursued from Athlone to Steenberg.
“When he was eventually stopped, officers found a three-year-old sitting on the lap of a passenger - neither was strapped in,” Smith said.
Officers issued 584 fines for a range of offences, including 431 for speeding and 51 to drivers who did not have licences.
Cape Times