CAPE TOWN, July 6 (Reuters) – Phoning or texting while
driving in the South African tourist capital of Cape Town could
cost you your cell phone under a new by-law allowing police to
confiscate handsets for 24 hours.
In their first peak-hour blitz since the law came into
effect this week, police in unmarked “ghost squad” vehicles
seized 16 phones from loquacious and quick-fingered motorists.
Jason Hill, one of the first offenders nabbed, was
unrepentant. “We are South Africans, you know. We are always
going to use the device and be on the lookout for cops. It’s
just the way we are,” he told Reuters.
The by-law states that cell phones can only be used in a car
with a hands-free kit. Motorists caught breaking the law face a
500 rand ($61.50) fine and/or a jail term of up to three years.
City officials said they had got fed up with fining 8,000
drivers a month without seeing any change in their behaviour.
“We are giving out lots of fines but obviously it is not a
deterrent,” said deputy chief of traffic services Andre Nel.
Many disgruntled motorists said confiscation was an
over-reaction, but others applauded it as a sensible step
towards preventing accidents caused by distracted drivers.
“Sometimes you see someone chatting on the phone and you
have to hoot because they don’t see traffic lights change,” said
delivery driver Osman Yehye. “When people are on the phone they
don’t use their indicators and that’s how accidents happen.”
($1 = 8.1286 South African rand)
(Reporting by Wendell Roelf and Samantha Lee; Editing by Tim
Pearce)
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