Road Safety in South Africa
A Note from our fines department:
“WHY WAS I CHARGED AFTER ALL THESE MONTHS WITH NO NOTIFICATION?”
This is he question that we answer on a daily basis and we would like to take this opportunity to give you an explanation.
In South Africa we have various municipalities which deal with the traffic offenses in their area and each municipality works independently.
The process from the actual day of offense to the day that we receive the traffic fine in the post can take from 1 week to 6 months and sometimes longer if we had not received any notices prior to the Summons which is delivered to our office personally.
We deal with thousands of traffic fines on a monthly basis and each fine has a payment date or court date so we start our procedures promptly to avoid further prosecution.
Unfortunately, due to the vast amount of fines, we are unable to contact each client to inform them of this charge which is why we forewarn our clients of our procedure with a bright red stamp on the rental agreement on the day of delivery.
* TIP – Our Garden Route is a busy route and as a result it has at least 7 fixed cameras and on occasion the additional speed trap.
– Slow down when entering and exiting a town or residential area.
Road Safety Tips
- Get a good nights sleep.
- If on a long journey, rest overnight.
- Share driving if possible.
- Travel for no longer than 8 to 10 hours a day.
- Have a 15 minute break every 2 hours to stretch.
- If drowsy, take a 20minute power nap.
- Do not drive during hours when you are normally asleep.
- Always carry a current road map.
Rules of the Road
- In South Africa we drive on the left-hand side of the road and our cars, including rental cars, are right-hand drive vehicles.
- Keep to the left and pass right.
- All distances, speed limits (and speedometers) are in kilometers.
- There are strict drinking and driving laws – with a maximum allowable alcohol blood content of 0.05%. Translated, that means about one glass of wine for the average woman and approximately 1.5 or 2 for the average or large man.
- Four-way-stops are commonly found at the quieter intersections – the first vehicle to arrive has priority. On roundabouts, give way to the right, although this is often overlooked and it is wise to proceed with caution.
- Wearing of seat belts is compulsory. All occupants of a vehicle are required to wear seat belts whilst travel ling, if you are caught without this you will be subject to a fine.
- Using hand-held phones while driving is against the law – use a vehicle phone attachment or hands-free kit if you want to speak on your mobile phone while driving.
