WATCH | RTI rescues 36 pupils from overloaded taxi on first day of term
The taxi was impounded and the driver was fined more than R2,000 after officers found the vehicle was overloaded.
Road Traffic Inspectorate (RTI) officers rescued 36 schoolchildren who were being transported in an overloaded minibus taxi with heavily tinted windows in Park Rynie on the first day of the new school term.
The operation formed part of the KwaZulu-Natal Department of Transport and Human Settlements’ ongoing #NenzaniLaEzweni road safety campaign aimed at protecting learners and other road users.
According to MEC for Transport and Human Settlements Siboniso Duma, the taxi was impounded and the driver was fined more than R2,000 after officers found the vehicle was overloaded, had non-compliant dark window tinting and that the driver was not carrying a valid driver’s licence.
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Duma said the department would intensify law enforcement operations to crack down on reckless drivers, particularly those transporting schoolchildren in unsafe conditions.
“Under the new AARTO (Administrative Adjudication of Road Traffic Offences point demerit system, a motorist who fails to carry a driver’s license and drives a vehicle with non-compliant tint incurs 2 demerit points.”
RTI officers, together with Operation Shanela teams, will continue targeting overloaded scholar transport vehicles and taxis fitted with heavily tinted windows used to evade law enforcement.
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Duma reminded motorists that vehicle window tinting must comply with national regulations, allowing sufficient visibility for officers to maintain eye contact with drivers during traffic stops.
