That speed fine ………….
author: Leon Botha
That speed fine ………….
And what will happen when they implement the driver licence penalty points system?
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Jaslaaik man that oke really travelled at a speed
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Many of the more regular readers remembered and wanted to know about my court case end of 2003, when I was caught and arrested for doing 179km/h, 20kms from Warden where both the cop and I could see forever. His eyes were in fact so good that he could see a white line on the road from a distance of 2.5kms and I saw the dot that proved to be a cop car, but did not worry too much as they are supposed to catch you within 400m from where they are standing when using a Laser gun.
At the time of the court case I thought it was not a good idea to write about the subject as the arrive alive and win a coffin people, were busy concentrating on getting 20 people to drive with their headlights on – still stopping mostly roadworthy cars with able drivers and in the process claim to have saved 35 lives – probably that of 35 pedestrians who were too drunk to get to the road, let lone be killed.
During this time we filled up at a service station where we counted 19 passengers getting into a 12 seater (I hope) kombi. I asked the driver where they were from and he replied that they were from Durban on their way back from some sort of congress, and that he was en route to Potgieterus (he also forgot the new name) – “with all these people?” I asked “No, my cousin gets off in Pretoria” he replied.
Think about it – if you drive a medium sized car – get 6 persons to sit in the rear of the car with you – not for five minutes, but for 12 hours. I felt sorry for the passengers, but also really mad that they were so stupid to actually get into a vehicle like this, and pay for the experience.
How did this vehicle get past the super heroes sitting past Heidelberg where they man three traps almost every day? Goodness help you when you drive past there doing 132km/h in a brand new car – but worst of all – if you do your thing and go to defend your case – they will probably just withdraw the case against you as enough motorist pay the fine while probably being caught illegally or at least incorrectly.
Now back to Warden – where I went fully prepared for the case – and I am not going to reveal all my defences, but believe me when I say that they were in for one hell of a surprise – “foolproof system” and all.
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Earning a living
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At the start of the case the prosecutor wanted to know if I was willing to pay an admission of guilt of R3000 which I politely declined saying that I did not actually come to court to pay, but simply to get my R1000 bail back and go home.
This was when his arms where pulled up slightly and the swagger crept into his step. Jan van Stooteninslooten or whatever his name was, also smiled confidently shaking his head in sympathy as he told the prosecutor that I will probably be satisfied to pay the R5000 to R10 000 fine the magistrate was going to lay on me.
When I opened my briefcase, took out my books, case referrals, note pads, pictures, four pens, chewing gum, boxing gloves, yogurt, crash helmet, mercurochrome and bandage, they started to look a bit shaky.
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Seems you get funny ones all over
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I was immediately approached by a guy who had his mother and the devil tattooed on the same arm to find out if I would not help him quickly as well. He had the 2kg of genuine green tobacco on him for personal use and the fact that he tried to throw it away when the cops arrived was only because he converted to become a Christian the moment the cop van stopped next to him – and if that story did not work I should try the one that he was on his way to the police station to hand in the parcel he picked up just before the van stopped.
After apologising for not being able to take on his case as I studied law but never articled because I fell pray to a pregnant women instead of studying in the early 70’s, when that was the worse thing that could happen if you did not use a condom, and got your 5th gear and reverse mixed up.
I concentrated on my own dilemma after getting rid of him.
The case was called and as we bent over for the first scrum, the prosecutor asked the cop to put the video tape in. Jacob met ‘n “c” Van Verstooten bend down and took the video tape of the incident, or so they said out of his suit case.
“Did you have the tape in your possession all the time?” I asked and of course proudly he confirmed that it was sealed by him, signed by him and held by him.
I showed them on the procedure they need to follow when they try and use video tapes as evidence and the referee blew the whistle and gave them both a red card before the game even started.
10 love as I promised – but it was easier than I wanted it to be. I was ready to introduce evidence on reaction times, the influence of various things on that, plus 6 other foolproof defences all in one. I suppose that remains until another day.
If you get caught and need a bit of help – you are welcome to contact us for some advise on your own rights etc.
Talking about rights …………..
What will happen when the new drive for points or drive to loose points system is enforced?
It is wonderful to think that if you are not willing to pay the going rate for bribes which currently hinges around R100 to R200, you will simply loose points every time you do not go to court to defend yourself. So bribery and corruption will increase from 90 to 99%.
Only a few idiots like myself who refuse to pay money over to people who do not deserve it, or pay someone who gets paid to do what he is supposed to do, or accept that I was wrong without a fight, will at least make life interesting and make them earn every cent.
Things will now change – if you are found guilty or simply pay the fine, you loose points and if you travel on any road these days and you do not use cruise control set on 130km/h you will loose all your points, just on one visit to Durban.
That brings us to the major problem – have you ever been to the Randburg court to try and defend anything, let alone a R500 fine because you allegedly talked on a cell-phone that old super fart saw in your left hand right through the headrest?
The courts are overcrowded as it is, the system is respectfully on the edge of going for a loop – so what will you do?
Get ready to loose your licence permanently in a couple of years or prepare yourself to defend the cases against you. You will have to be willing to go to court at least twice and then with a good argument have the case withdrawn as the cops will not be there or at least not have done anything according to the book.
This system will and can only work if the minister of all the fantastic bushwackers and peek-a-boo specialists can guarantee us that corruption will not prevail.
Will we once again simply accept our fate, or will we stand up and fight for a fair country where we can once again say – thank goodness – the cops have arrived. We will have a united country again on that same day – a country where you will at least know the enemy again and not look at the cops driving by in disgust.
The rulers wonder why South Africans have this incredible attitude towards law enforcement – all they need to do is wake up and look around.
A step in the wrong direction is the Metro Police – I am not sure how they think they fit into the picture, but I have not heard one single positive thing about them and unfortunately saw first hand how one of them treated a member of the public, when the latter asked him if he had a wheel spanner in his car.
Anyway – the long and the short is we need to get this sorted out and the only way to do it, short of a civil war, is to stand on your rights and if they want to interfere with them, make them work every step of the way.
They are letting criminals out of jail because it is overfilled, and fact is that according to the Nedcor Project on crime (June 1996 – when things were not as bad) out of every 1000 crimes only 450 are reported, 230 solved, 100 criminals appear in court, 77 found guilty, 33 get sentenced, of which only 8 receive a sentence of more than 2 years. In 1997 the centre of legal studies University of Witwatersrand, found that the criminal justice system’s ability to apprehend and convict armed robbers, murderers, and rapist dropped from almost 50% to 15%. Currently only 10% of armed robbers, 30% murderers and 25% of rapists are ever prosecuted. (Source CR Snyman 2002 Criminal Law)
Makes you think about what the current figures 7 years down the line will look like – doesn’t it?
………and then they fine you thousands of Rand for speeding, while murderers get away and our rights to a reasonable safe living are almost non-existing let alone guaranteed according to the Bill of Rights.
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Regulate the WHAT?
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Make no mistake I hate people who speed anywhere it is dangerous, anywhere near schools, through towns or in cities where you can simply not stop in time if a child runs out of a yard right in front of your car, something that happens often enough.
I will never understand why we are caught mostly where it is safe to speed on the open roads. In the case of Warden for instance they catch you more than 20kms from the town where no accident has been recorded for a long, long time but never at the dangerous intersections going into and coming out of town where they admit accidents often occur.
If you drive while even slightly under the influence, overtake anywhere (except in an emergency) where you are not allowed to, don’t stop at stop signs or skip robots – that’s it – I feel nothing not even if they confiscate your car, tear up your licence and kick your arse till kingdom come – but this speeding thing gets to me as it is purely a money making racket that does absolutely nothing while they concentrate to catch drivers with expensive and roadworthy cars where they know they will get paid off, be it in the form of a bribe or the fine.
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Using own vehicles may look something like this.
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Respect for law enforcement officers – respect for logical and fair law enforcement will fix the problem, not the way this matter is currently handled.
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