All public transport drivers will be forced to drive vehicles fitted with a “speed governor” which will limit vehicles to a determined speed.
This is one of the proposals contained in the amendments to transport regulations gazetted by Transport Minister Dipuo Peters.
These are amendments to the transport regulations of the National Road Transport Act of 1996.
The regulations state: “No person shall operate a minibus; midibus; bus, goods vehicle the gross vehicle mass of which exceeds 3 500 kilograms, first registered after 1 December 2016, unless such vehicle is fitted with a speed governor, restricting the speed of such motor vehicle.”
The SA National Taxi Council president Phillip Taaibosch said the industry would support the reduction of speed governors particularly on taxis operating in urban areas.
But Taaibosch said the council would request government to exempt long distance taxis.
“I do not think that we will oppose that proposal, but we will request that taxi travelling long distances should be exempted,” he said.
He said the industry would also propose to government that taxi should be allowed to use dedicated lanes utilised by BRT buses.
Transport department spokesman Tiyani Rikhotso said the amendments were triggered by the frequent road carnage witnessed on South African roads, which mainly involved taxis, buses and trucks. “The amendments are driven by the information we have at our disposal, so far as the number of crashes prevalent in that sector are concerned.
"We can’t have a vehicle the size of a bus hurtling down a public road at 160km because it takes longer to brake. We want to improve safety standards because emperical evidence shows us that speed does contribute to road crashes, especially in cases where there are fatalities,” he said.
Similar research on crashes involving child fatalities informed the department’s decision to compel motorists driving along public roads to seat children below 3 years “in an appropriate child restraint".
Otherwise, “there’s a fine that should be applicable”.
But the bigger idea, Rikhotso explained, is to raise the concerns of commuters who otherwise are threatened with ejection from public transport vehicle when they complain about high speeds and bad driving.
Spokesman for the Automobile Association (AA) Gary Ronald said the main concern was how law enforcement will implement the new regulations.
“If you have a vehicle registered in 2016 and another registered in 2014, the regulation is not applicable to the latter. If one of the vehicles passes through a speed trap, the law enforcement officer must now know which vehicle was registered in 2014 or 2016,” he said.
“They are moving in the right direction by bringing down the speed limit to 80km/h because speed is not good for road safety. But why is this only applicable for vehicles registered in 2016?” said Ronald.
Slow taxi day is coming
This is one of the proposals contained in the amendments to transport regulations gazetted by Transport Minister Dipuo Peters.
These are amendments to the transport regulations of the National Road Transport Act of 1996.
The regulations state: “No person shall operate a minibus; midibus; bus, goods vehicle the gross vehicle mass of which exceeds 3 500 kilograms, first registered after 1 December 2016, unless such vehicle is fitted with a speed governor, restricting the speed of such motor vehicle.”
The SA National Taxi Council president Phillip Taaibosch said the industry would support the reduction of speed governors particularly on taxis operating in urban areas.
But Taaibosch said the council would request government to exempt long distance taxis.
“I do not think that we will oppose that proposal, but we will request that taxi travelling long distances should be exempted,” he said.
He said the industry would also propose to government that taxi should be allowed to use dedicated lanes utilised by BRT buses.
Transport department spokesman Tiyani Rikhotso said the amendments were triggered by the frequent road carnage witnessed on South African roads, which mainly involved taxis, buses and trucks. “The amendments are driven by the information we have at our disposal, so far as the number of crashes prevalent in that sector are concerned.
"We can’t have a vehicle the size of a bus hurtling down a public road at 160km because it takes longer to brake. We want to improve safety standards because emperical evidence shows us that speed does contribute to road crashes, especially in cases where there are fatalities,” he said.
Similar research on crashes involving child fatalities informed the department’s decision to compel motorists driving along public roads to seat children below 3 years “in an appropriate child restraint".
Otherwise, “there’s a fine that should be applicable”.
But the bigger idea, Rikhotso explained, is to raise the concerns of commuters who otherwise are threatened with ejection from public transport vehicle when they complain about high speeds and bad driving.
Spokesman for the Automobile Association (AA) Gary Ronald said the main concern was how law enforcement will implement the new regulations.
“If you have a vehicle registered in 2016 and another registered in 2014, the regulation is not applicable to the latter. If one of the vehicles passes through a speed trap, the law enforcement officer must now know which vehicle was registered in 2014 or 2016,” he said.
“They are moving in the right direction by bringing down the speed limit to 80km/h because speed is not good for road safety. But why is this only applicable for vehicles registered in 2016?” said Ronald.
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