Cape Town - 120702 - During peak traffic periods on Hospital Bend, hundreds of drivers illegally change lanes, in order to skip the traffic. PICTURE: DAVID RITCHIE Cape Town - 120702 - During peak traffic periods on Hospital Bend, hundreds of drivers illegally change lanes, in order to skip the traffic. PICTURE: DAVID RITCHIE
Cape Town's traffic services issued 1400 fines worth more than R500 000 during just one two-hour operation.
The afternoon peak operation stretched along Hospital Bend, where more than 200 private motorists were fined for 'disobeying the channelising lines'. This is when motorists cross the road over a solid line.
The operation took place last Thursday and is part of increasing efforts to curb reckless behaviour along that road.
Authorities say motorists leaving the inner city are causing havoc.
JP Smith, mayoral committee member for safety and security, said his department had approached the city's roads and transport department to look at the idea of erecting poles on the solid lines.
Traffic engineering officials were now discussing the move and set to inspect the area soon.
Smith said: “There are many different types of enforcement where there is a sheer challenge to people's behaviour. The solution to this is part enforcement and part engineering.”
He said the poles would not be solid concrete, but more flexible with joints allowing them to bend at the bottom.
“It will hurt your car a little bit, but won't cause you to crash.”
City traffic services spokeswoman Maxine Jordaan said the fine for this particular offence was R500.
Yet this was not deterring motorists - and the offence statistics for operations along that route were not “significantly decreasing”.
Jordaan warned that traffic services would be upping its operations.
She said the city had even displayed messages on its freeway management billboards urging motorists to choose the correct lane well in advance.
“We will increase the intensity of our operations until motorists get the message. Disobeying the channelising line impacts on traffic congestion and adds to the frustration of law-abiding motorists.”
Along Nelson Mandela Boulevard, motorists were “disregarding barrier lines at critical points”.
The majority of the drivers were in their private vehicles, with 215 offenders being caught in 'sedan passenger vehicles'.
Fifty-two taxi drivers and four truck drivers were also fined for the same offence.
The fines just for that offence were worth R273 000.
Several speedsters were nabbed and 123 speeding offences were recorded. In one case, a motorist was driving 125km/h in an 80km/h zone.
On Table Bay Boulevard, 295 speeding offences were recorded between Christiaan Barnard Street and Lower Church Street.
Another 531 speeding motorists were fined between Jan Smuts and Raapenberg Road on the N2.
These speeding fines were worth just over R300 000.
The operation started at 4pm and ended just after 6pm.
Other offences during that day's operation include 19 fines for not wearing a seat belt, while 21 motorists were fined for using their cellphones.
It came just days before the city started confiscating the phones of motorists who drive and dial.
Since April, in just three separate operations, officers have issued 2052 traffic fines along Hospital Bend alone. And 729 of these were for those “disobeying the channelising lines”.
In the same three operations between April and July, another 1708 fines were issued for speeding offences.
Yet, driving over solid lines has become one of the most common offences along Hospital Bend. Officers found drivers overtaking on the left shoulder of the road and ignoring barrier lines along Nelson Mandela Boulevard.
Jordaan said the errant drivers were increasing traffic congestion and posing a danger to other motorists.
The biggest offenders were private motorists.
They made up the bulk of the offenders in the past four months. The city said it had received numerous and frequent complaints from other motorists of reckless drivers along Hospital Bend.
During another peak hour operation in April, 256 motorists were fined for ignoring the channelising lines.
Only 38 taxi drivers and two truck drivers were among those fined. In total, 837 traffic fines were issued along Hospital Bend during the operation.
In a two-hour operation in May, 700 traffic fines were issued; 202 were for “disobeying the channelising lines”.
In March, just over 600 traffic fines were issued along the same route during one operation. Of these, 206 were for ignoring the channelising lane.
After the March operation, officers noted that private drivers were the top offenders, racking up far more fines than public transport operators. They found that although the variable message system had been telling motorists in the days before the operation - and on the day itself - to choose the right lane in advance, many were ignoring the warning. - Cape Argus