If you’re used to talking or texting on your cellphone while you drive, you’d better watch out: the City of Cape Town’s traffic officers can now confiscate your phone for 24 hours.
The new Traffic By-Law – Sect 33(1) (a) r/w 39 PN 6892 of 2011 has come into effect, making provision for not only a fine but also the confiscation of cellphones used by drivers.
Cape Town is the first city in the country to start cracking down on the use of cellphones by motorists. It is well known that distracted drivers pose a grave danger to other road users and themselves, as their ability, awareness, field of vision and reaction time are affected, thereby increasing the chances of an accident.
Research has found that drivers who use their cellphones are as dangerous as drunken drivers. The four most dangerous driving habits are speeding, not wearing seatbelts, drinking and driving and distracted driving.
Fines that were issued to motorists caught using their cellphones in the past did not appear to act as a deterrent or change their behaviour, which is why the new by-law was created. However, traffic officials are allowed to use their discretion, for instance if a call is taken due to an emergency situation.
In terms of the National Road Traffic Act, motorists are urged to use a hands-free kit, or pull over when it is safe to do so in order to use their phones.
City of Cape Town traffic officers in unmarked cars conducted a cellphone blitz on Nelson Mandela Boulevard towards Hospital Bend on Thursday 5 July, confiscating 16 cellphones that were being used by motorists. The cellphones were placed in a special box and sealed in front of the errant drivers, who were given a receipt to collect them at the Gallows Hill Traffic Department in Green Point the following day.
