Cape Town - The motor industry is in uproar over the Cape Town traffic department’s efforts to clamp down on modified cars as part of their actions against illegal street racers.
Even seemingly simple modifications, such as wider or larger wheels and tyres, larger exhausts, or any fittings not clearly specified by the car’s manufacturer may now have a motorist running the risk of having a car declared unroadworthy.
The city’s traffic officers have been stopping cars they saw as having been modified and removing their licence disks, forcing the owners to go through a roadworthy process.
Traffic department spokesman Richard Coleman pointed out that regulations stated no modifications could be made to any vehicle that was not specified by the manufacturer, and that all work on cars had to be done by individuals or organisations who carried a letter of authority regarding the specific car.
Essentially, no modifications were legal, including lowering a car or changing the wheel size, he said.
FEELING VICTIMISED
Owners of modified cars complained that they were being victimised by traffic officers even when the modifications they made were with proper, high-quality components that were recognised around the world.
But Coleman contended that the mere action of lowering a car made it unsafe on the road. When asked how it could be unsafe if the Federation Internationale d’Automobile (FIA) allowed the lowering of cars for competitive motor racing, he said it would be safe for the track but not for the road.
This week the city said that it was renewing its focus on fast-tracking regulations to tackle illegal racing. This would include imposing heavier fines, impounding vehicles and calling for longer jail sentences for those caught breaking the law.
Mayoral committee member for safety and security JP Smith said the city was not authorised to arrest motorists nor suspend illegally modified vehicles from the roads.
He asked that the new provincial traffic regulations, which are set to be announced by Transport MEC Donald Grant in April, give city officials more authority.
But several owners of modified cars, who spoke to the Cape Argus on condition of anonymity, said traffic officers who stopped them, directly accused them of being street racers.
“I have installed a very high quality coil-over-shock suspension system on my car. The coil springs are made in such a way that the coils are closer together at one point and further apart at another, in order to allow for a stepped spring action. A traffic officer stopped me and told me the springs were collapsed,” an owner said.
Coleman referred to various regulations, as well as the South African National Standard Act, and said traffic officers were not able to change or interpret the laws, they just had to apply them.
One of the regulations he referred to was that which determined roadworthiness and what roadworthy testing stations had to reject. Here, the regulation expressly states that components which were not specified by the original manufacturer had to be rejected.
INDUSTRY UPROAR
But the motor industry is about to object loudly.
Various motor industry and motorsport spokesmen have decried the clampdown on modifications, heavily criticising the city for approaching the fight against illegal racing the wrong way.
The Retail Motor Industry Association (RMI) intends investigating the city’s actions after the issue was raised with them by the Midas group, one of the country’s largest suppliers of after market products.
Stefan le Roux, marketing director of the Midas Group, said he had reason to believe there was an issue of interpretation of the law and regulations.
“First, Midas does not promote illegal street racing or driving in unsafe or illegally modified vehicles,” Le Roux said.
“Although illegal street racers mostly modify their vehicles, it does not mean that all modified vehicles are used for illegal purposes. We have contacted the Retail Motor Industry (RMI) to assist in clarifying the interpretation of the different regulations as the quoted regulations and interpretation of such by the Cape Town Traffic Services may differ.”
He said there was a definite problem with the thinking by traffic authorities.
“The implications of this is too large to be immediately grasped,” he said. “We will have to tackle this head-on as an industry.”
Commentators have accused the city of trampling on the rights of car owners in general for the sake of getting at a relatively small minority of people who take part in criminal activities.
THE DAMAGE DONE
“My first question is, is this April’s Fool’s Day? Second, what are they smoking? They are prepared to damage a huge industry in this country and I can tell you now it will never work,” said motor sport legend Roger McCleery, chairman of the South African Guild of Motoring Journalists, commentator and former South African motorcycle racing champion.
“They are doing it completely the wrong way. It is a sign that they are not interested in tackling the problem head-on, they want to do things the easy way,” McCleery said.
“The after market industry is not just a little thing that you can brush aside, it employs many people. We simply cannot believe it.”
There were roadworthy and unroadworthy standard cars and roadworthy and un-roadworthy modified cars, he said.
Western Province Motor Club founder member and chief Clerk of the Course Brian Hoskins asked whether the traffic department was now going to hunt down the thousands of cars which had been modified over the years.
“No way, no way do I think it is going to cure their problem with illegal street racers in any way,” he said.
“My son and I love rallying. Our car is road legal so that we can drive from venue to venue. Does this mean we will no longer be allowed to do that because there are many components on our car that are not from the original equipment manufacturer?
“What about the many older cars that are being repaired by youngsters because they cannot afford newer cars.
“You cannot get original equipment for most old cars. People who take a lot of trouble to modify their cars and make them look good are usually responsible individuals who won’t race because their cars are expensive.”
Hoskins said his club, the operator of the Killarney Motor Sport Complex, had set up a street to strip racing programme to give amateur drag racers a venue at which to race.
“We need to motivate the people to come here and we love having them.
“We have to try to entice the illegal racers to come here. But to take on the guys who modify their cars is plain crazy.”
Cape Argus