Number is up for dial 'n drivers

Published Mar 30, 2012

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If you’re thinking about dialling while driving on Cape Town’s roads - think again. City traffic authorities are taking a hard line, conducting blitzes targeting motorists who talk on their cellphones while at the wheel.

Ahead of the Easter weekend, traffic officials descended on the N1 and N2 highways on Thursday and bust 19 offenders in just an hour and a half. Each of them was slapped with a R300 fine.

But if they get caught in the act just twice more, their phones will be confiscated immediately.

JP Smith, the mayoral committee member for safety and security who joined Thursday’s operation, said they wanted motorists to be aware they were breaking the law.

“This is about building awareness.”

“We don’t want people to be surprised when we start impounding phones.”

It took just 90 minutes to catch 19 motorists talking on their cellphones while driving - almost one every five minutes. The problem is becoming so bad that the City of Cape Town is conducting more and more specific operations targeting this offence.

The city is also busy setting up a database where names will be captured and the “third strike and you’re out” rule will apply.

The cellphone will be bagged and tagged on the spot for a third offence.

Between October and December 2011, officers issued 1696 fines to motorists for using their cellphones while driving.

This is even higher than the number of those caught drinking and driving over the same period.

In 2009, the World Health Organisation asked the AA to conduct research on how many South Africans used their cellphones while driving.

During the survey, conducted in Johannesburg, 2497 drivers were “observed”. More than seven percent were either talking on their phones or texting.

In a build-up to the Easter weekend operations, the City of Cape Town’s ghost squad and law-enforcement officers targeted chatting motorists during peak-hour traffic on Thursday.

Those who use their cellphones while driving will be one of the key targets in the city’s holiday weekend operations and beyond.

JP Smith, the mayoral committee member for safety and security, said the operation was aimed at warning motorists that they would soon lose their cellphones if they broke the law.

Motorists are being urged to use hands-free kits.

During Thursday’s operations, most motorists admitted they were wrong after being caught. Some, however, asked why the city could not focus on other, more serious crimes.

According to the city’s traffic by-law, officers can confiscate a motorist’s cellphone after the third offence.

But Smith said the city was still completing the technology that would allow officers to access the offender database. It should be operational in the next few weeks.

Smith said they wanted motorists to be aware that their phones would be confiscated.

He said strict measures would be followed. The motorist would switch the phone off and remove the SIM card. The phone would be stored in a zip-lock bag, and the motorist would be handed a receipt. The phone would only be returned after the offender paid an impoundment fee.

Smith said the goal was to reduce road deaths.

“Research suggests that distracted driving is an even bigger problem than drinking and driving. And we have to bring those statistics down,” he said.

On Thursday morning, officers fined motorists along Nelson Mandela Boulevard , close to the foreshore and on the N1 and N2 highways.

One of the offenders supported the move to confiscate phones. He said he normally did not use his phone while driving, but had been taking a call from his boss.

Most drivers said there was no excuse for using the phone, and accepted the fine.

However, one asked why officers were targeting motorists.

“Go out and fight the bad okes, man,” he told officers.

“What you’re doing is just as bad, and even worse than drinking and driving. Coming to Easter, we’re sensitising the public about using cellphones,” Smith explained to the motorist.

A tour bus driver was also fined.

Initially, the man was not in favour of a fine. He told Smith he spent money making sure his private vehicle was roadworthy and licensed.

One motorist was stopped at the traffic lights at Sable Road. While the officer was writing the fine, a seemingly unaware motorist pulled up - talking on his cellphone.

This motorist then spotted the traffic officer and immediately dropped the phone. He was pulled over and fined.

AA public affairs manager Gary Ronald said the figures were similar for major cities across the world.

Ronald said “distracted driving” was about six times more dangerous than driving drunk.

According to the AA, there are countries where there is strict enforcement and compliance from motorists and where less than three percent of drivers commit the offence.

In other Easter weekend operations, metro police will also increase roadblocks. Officers will also check vehicles planning to travel long distances from the city’s public transport interchanges. - Cape Argus

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