How many traffic fines were issued in South Africa over the holiday season

More than 100,900 traffic fines were issued over the holiday season in South Africa, according to the Road Traffic Management Corporation (RTMC).

Since the 1st of December, law enforcement agencies have been on high alert for various driving infringements such as drunk driving, speeding, permit violations, and driving without a licence, reported BusinessTech.

This action resulted in over 188 roadblocks being formed and a total of 611,000 vehicles being stopped and checked.

Holiday infringements

As many as 2,241 driving violations have been recorded since the first of December, including one incident on the 8th in which a motorist was caught driving at 191km/h in a 120km/h zone on the N1 towards Bloemfontein in the Free State.

In total, 2,000 vehicle-related arrests have been made across the country over the course of the last month, and drunk driving was cited as the most common offence, resulting in 324 motorists being detained.

There has been talk for years about lowering the legal limit for driving while intoxicated to zero, but South Africa’s current legislation is still sitting on an alcohol threshold of 0.05g/100ml.

The current limit serves as a good indication of intoxication, according to the Automobile Association’s (AA) head of public affairs, Layton Beard, and is in line with international standards as laid out by the World Health Organization.

The suspect with the highest blood-alcohol level that was detained in December was arrested in Midrand, Gauteng, and had a reading of 3.99mg/100ml.

Several motorists were also found to be operating unroadworthy vehicles on public infrastructure, leading to more than 4,200 vehicles being discontinued.

Additionally, there were a high number of incidents involving reckless and negligent driving, and a high number of public transport drivers were caught on the roads without a proper permit, said RTMC spokesperson Simon Zwane.

Many of the drivers arrested over December also had previous traffic fines on their record, and Zwane warned that more arrests would be made in 2023 of motorists that have been issued fines and found not to have paid them when pulled over by law enforcement.