New Speed Cameras & Other Issues

No, not quick fix...

...the correct political term is 'rapid results'...!

I suppose sticking to the speed limits and rules of the roads will make you feel better but I agree that it will not be the starting point in reducing crime.

Being in the crime fighting industry for over 20 years, I learned that you need a number of elements present to reduce crime and to maintain low crime levels.

The most important factor in addressing crime is creating an environment in which the risk for a perpetrator of being caught is a consistently highly probability with severe penalties following apprehension.

This can only be achieved by an effective law enforcement and criminal justice system. To attain these systems the country is in need of a strong political will to address crime effectively.

None of these high level elements are present in our current society (have a really objective and good look at the moral fiber of our current leadership and how it has cascaded down to society) and therefore crime will continue to be unmanageable.

I noted Gulliani’s successes and think he is a good political leader but lots of the measures he implemented would have been implemented in any event without his contribution as these systems were in the process of being developed prior to his reign. (If the Gautrain starts running tomorrow, political leadership at that time will probably claim that they delivered affordable transport to the people as promised and it is due to there hard work, while it has been in planning years ago).

I do not wish to discourage the good intentions of obeying traffic rules, but I would like the demonstrate the reality crime in our country.

Can somebody then using all these "we are special" and "not in New York"reasons, tell me why the crime rate in Mozambique and Botswana is so much lower than in South Africa?? Is it not maybe because they have a system in place that eliminate the small crimes? Or do the people of Mozambique get transformed into criminals once they cross the SA borders?

Don't you think an effective law enforcement system and criminal justice system should start with the small things??

Catching people not obeying rules of the road effectively is one of several effective screening methods to check licence validity, vehicle road worthiness and driver crime record. Thus by eliminating illegal number plates and illegal drivers we can start to build a system that will at least give the correct details if you spot a vehicle's number plates at a crime scene.

And using this logic we can systematically eliminate the serious crimes. But unfortunately you need to start with the small and basic stuff.

Also I do believe that processes and systems are not implemented automatically. It takes good leadership, planning and buy-in before it happens. I have been involved in several of these new systems being implemented and I believe the human individuals "resistance to change" and "not invented by me" factors can create havoc. Countering these normal human actions during implementation is where the true test of leadership lies.

The leadership in both Mozambique and Botswana is focused on prosperity for their respective countries at large while in our case leadership is more focused on self enrichment.

At the time the Mozambican leadership was serving their own self interests, things also did not go well in that country. Only after being economically forced to do so, they started to adopt and implement good governance policies as this was closely monitored by donating countries that are contributing to the rebuilding of Mozambique.

Botswana’s leadership always placed a high premium on the country’s growth/prosperity and has a no nonsense approach to crime. They are also characterized by being one of the few African states without much internal conflict. Their law enforcement and criminal justice system (with strong influences from the former British South African Police) is effective and consistent. (remember the woman hanged for murder a few years ago amidst international pressures against the death penalty) You simply have to think twice before committing murder or any crime for that matter in Botswana.

In comparison, our leadership focus on self enrichment i.e. our President is covered in a dust of controversy relating to corruption charges while his brother-in-arms is released from prison due to “ill health”

When the Heath Commission started to uncover the arms deal corruption the response by our leaders was not to enhance the commission’s powers of the unit to get to the bottom of things but rather to close the unit. Subsequently the unit currently dealing with these corruption charges (Scorpions) is also being closed.

Our National Police Commissioner admitted being friends with one of the world’s most wanted members of the Cosa Nostra. The Head of Ekhuruleni Metro Police, Mcbride, is also a highly questionable individual and numerous procurement irregularities have been highlighted by the Auditor General concerning the Head of Tshwane Metro Police Commissioner Mutle.

Currently there is much controversy between Lennit Max, the MEC for Safety and Security in the Western Cape and his Provincial Commissioner about the destroying of evidence and police cover ups.

We have highly questionable Judges in our justice system, drunk ones, racist ones, corrupt ones ect.

This is not an all exhaustive synopsis of our current state of affairs and I am highlighting only but a few matters.


I agree with the concept that by addressing small crimes it will result into reducing bigger crimes but it takes leadership who wish for society to prosper to implement. In fact, I think our crime is so out of hand that any crime fighting strategy will have an impact provided it is properly implemented by leadership who place the country’s interest first.

As I’ve said, if the moral fiber of our entire leadership is of such poor quality it is bound to cascade to civil service and society at large. This is why society supports the current leadership. Our country is in dire need of social re-engineering and perhaps you are correct in that sense that by encouraging each other to do the right things i.e obeying traffic rules may just be the beginning of such social re-engineering. I think you have a sound argument in that sense.

Good post Dana.

I totally agree that we need strong leadership with no skeletons in the closet. Unfortunately our present leadership had to fund the "struggle" during the previous regime using all kinds of less than legal operations. Unfortunately these practises and operations has not stopped today and the dues must still be paid off. Our Leadership probably feels that they are just catching up, due to losses suffered during the struggle. They will therefore be in self-enrichment mode until the next generation takes over. Hopefully the next generation will not be in self-enrichment mode.

But that then poses the question: How many politicians end-up not being in self-enrichment mode??

Mud Pooh-bah wrote:Good post Dana.
How many politicians end-up not being in self-enrichment mode??

In Italy, the average term of a government is under two years before the coalition collapses and another election takes place.
If you want to see self-enrichment look around there...!

Technicalities

In order for a fine to be valid whether it arrives in the mail or
it is given to you on the roadside, there are numerous rules and
regulations that have to be followed. These rules are specified by
the Traffic Department themselves and called Technical Standards.
In a precedent case in court a few years ago, a Judge determined
that if these standards are not followed then this by definition
introduces doubt as to the validity of the readings since the
equipment was not operated correctly which then makes the fine
invalid.

You will be surprised to know that is the norm of the Traffic
Department to operate their cameras not according to the standards
which then makes almost every fine they issue invalid. Some of the
standards include:


* There should be no object (eg, car, barriers, signs) within
50m of the radar/laser gun
* The equipment must be calibrated before, after and every one
hour while operating it, these calibration tests must be on site
and also brought to court on the trial date. (This normally never
happens and just with this method alone we get a lot of fines
cancelled)
* There can be no trapping within a certain distance of the
speed limit sign
* The operator must have attended a course in speed trapping as
well as have an SME certificate which you can demand to see.

There are many other standards listed in my Traffic Fines Toolkit
relating to all the different types of speed detection set ups that
I cannot go into here in this email, these include specific
standards for:


* Radar trapping
* Laser gun trapping
* Sensor Line trapping
* Unmanned cameras etc

The technicalities identified are then used when making
representations in respect of the fine either in writing or if
necessary in court. The process is simple:


1. You identify how you were trapped, whether it was a radar,
laser or sensor line device (Most trapping nowadays is laser, but
you still do get radar in the KZN region)
2. Use the Traffic Fines Toolkit Checklists to identify any flaw
or technicality in the fine because of not following the standards.
3. Go to the AARTO website (www.aarto.co.za) and fill Form 8
online, putting in the reason as per the checklists that you are
requesting the fine be cancelled, be polite but make it clear that
you are willing togo to court to defend yourself against this
matter since you believe you are innocent
4. In 90% of cases you will get a satisfactory response and the
fine will be totally cancelled
5. In the remaining 10% of cases you then have a choice to elect
to go to court or pay the fine. I would recommend going to court
because 90% of the remaining are cancelled there!

In conclusion, know that the invalidation of the fine will be based
on technicalities identified by the Traffic Authorities not
operating according to the Technical Standards. When you know these
standards and what to look for you can get the majority of your
fines cancelled because you will realise they are invalid.

Roadblocks

Despite numerous rulings by Judges against the practice of
Roadblocks for Traffic Fines, the Metro and other departments
continue on their intimidation routine of scaring motorists into
filling their coffers.

The reality though is that the process is legal, provided proper
procedures are followed.

First of all, you cannot be stopped and detained for an outstanding
fine, you can only be detained when there is a warrant of arrest
issued for you and this can only happen if there was a summons
issued and you did not appear in court for it.

Therefore, at a roadblock you have the right to ask for the summons
without which you cannot be detained. Many people are confused
about the issue of an electronic summons which may come to the
roadblock officers by sms or other means, I go into this matter in
the Toolkit and it is important to know.

The biggest problem however is that you find yourself in a very
intimidating situation so you should know how to handle it from the
moment the officer comes to your car window asking for your driving
licence, I have a system that works 99% of the time to get the
officer to hand you back your licence immediately and just let you
continue, and it doesn't involve bribery.

For those times though when you do have a warrant of arrest issued
for you because of not appearing in court on a summons, the matter
is a little different, first of all DO NOT RESIST ARREST. There was
an erroneous letter circulating purporting to be from the Law
Society stating that you should resist arrest, the Law Society has
explained that this is not from them and in fact you should not
resist arrest. There are ways of dealing with the situation however
and I suggest that you get your hands on my Toolkit for all the
details and what to do in such a situation.

This was the last in the 4 part introductory course on dealing with
Traffic Fines. The information presented was only the tip of the
iceberg and I really suggest that you go to my website and purchase
the Toolkit if you want to get the upper hand on your Traffic
Fines, it will probably pay itself by just getting 1 or at most 2
fines cancelled in most cases.

So my first lesson here is don't admit guilt, as I mentioned before you
are admitting guilt by paying the fine, but there is another way
that is even more confusing and you should take careful note of this:

When you are stopped on the road for speeding, the officer will
often ask why you were driving so fast, if you give some reason or
excuse you have admitted guilt!

Rather keep quiet or say something else, but don't say anything that
will imply you admit anything, just ask to see the readings on the
machine and as you do, take careful note of how the equipment is set
up, whether the officer is in full uniform, if there are any
obstructions close to the camera and the other details that are
mentioned in the Traffic Fines Toolkit checklist. This will put you
in an excellent position to defend yourself in court by introducing
technicalities which invalidate the fine.

In conclusion, a fine is only an allegation that is as yet
unproven. It is the traffic department's duty to prove you are
guilty and that is not an easy task. You can make it easier by
admitting guilt, and that is what they intimidate you into doing,
so don't do it.

n the next part I am going to tell you more about the methods used
by the Traffic Department to trap you and also show you why the
system is flawed and full of errors.

If you want to get your hands on all the information as well as the
full checklists and photo assessment guide, go to my website and
purchase the Traffic Fines Toolkit.

Thanks for the post loox.

It seems that there is quite a lot of procedures that must be in place before you actually have to pay a fine. Not sure if this is gonna help if you are arrested and have to spent a night with Bubba in a jail cell My experience is by the time you have showed these clowns that they have performed the deed of wrongful arrest, Bubba and his chums might have performed the dirty deed with you already.

You can buy the toolkit at x amount and study up on all the technicalities. But I believe the cost effective way is just too learn to read and understand the road signals and learn to drive/ride your vehicle accordingly

Makes you think...

An e-mail doing its rounds last few days:
“Take note that the De-Merit system is in place as from twelve o’ clock last night. Points are put on scale under your ID No. on the system for any traffic violations and thus you can unknowingly lose your license.

This morning, numerous people from Unisa as well as from Onderstepoort animal research station (Cruvet) were pulled over and received serious fines. There is no longer a 10km/h grace for exceeding the speed limit. They fine as from km one.
Starting today, they are going full-out.”

Although in the The Star of July 7 the following was published:

The points demerit system will only be operational by November 2010.
This was confirmed by Road Traffic Management Corporation CEO Ranthoko Rakgoale on Tuesday.
He said the email being circulated stating that the system was already up and running was false.


Whatever the case may be: Shouldn't we just obey the traffic rules in any case?