Speeding down a road with no worries of being caught on camera may be the fortunate situation for some Johannesburg drivers until next week after the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) has said that metro police must reapply for permission to use speed cameras on specific roads.
Applications to set up camera speed traps on roads now have to be given to the NPA for approval after existing licences expired on Monday, said Gauteng NPA head Charin de Beer on Wednesday.
”A reapplication for each area must be submitted and will be approved if they meet specific criteria. Some applications have been accepted; others have been sent back with queries.”
De Beer said that by Wednesday, 45 applications had been accepted. More applications were expected to be submitted, she said. Licences are valid for one year.
She suggested that motorists who want to confirm if their ticket was issued from a camera that was licensed to trap on a specific road speak to the traffic prosecutor at their local magistrate’s court.
”This does not apply to tickets issued by officers on foot,” she said.
Chief Superintendent Wayne Minnaar, spokesperson for the Johannesburg metro police, said that when the department was made aware of the lapse of licences, all cameras were suspended.
”All officers who deal with speed law enforcement were instructed to carry out their duties manually,” said Minnaar.
Using handheld speed-measuring devices, metro police will still issue fines to offending motorists on the spot and without photographs.
”We have applied for licences for 140 sites in Johannesburg so far, and believe they are in the process of being approved,” Minnaar said. ”Once they are granted, all procedures will resume.”
Five criteria need to be met for these speed cameras, he said.
A camera must not be used where there is a ”negative effect on traffic flow; that is, traffic must not back up”. Secondly, a camera must be in a place were the design of the road does not hinder an officer from stopping cars.
It must also be in area were there is, on record, a high number of accidents, and on a road that has a record of a high number of motorists speeding. Lastly, it must be on a road that has all the ”necessary road traffic signs”.