Traffic Services Ghost Squad bust Reckless Drivers

City of Cape Town Traffic Services stepped up its efforts to curb dangerous driving this weekend in Athlone and Bellville when the Ghost Squad arrested 10 motorists for reckless or negligent driving, six for driving under the influence and one for fraud and being in possession of a false driving licence.

On Friday evening, the driver of an Opel Coupe was arrested when he was clocked driving at 221 km/h in a 100 km/h zone along the M5 at Kromboom Road. As he passed through the speed check, Senior Traffic Officer Oscar Frantz, from a stationary position on his "Ghost bike", a Honda ST 1300, and assisted by the "Ghost GTI's", pursued the vehicle and pulled the driver over on Kromboom Parkway under the Milner Road bridge.

The driver, a 22 year old male, said that he didn't realise that he was going that fast until he saw the Traffic Officer behind him. He was apparently on his way to pick up children somewhere in town and was very tired as he had gone to work early that day. He will be appearing in Court this morning.

"It is extremely disturbing that a motorist gets behind the steering wheel of his car knowing full well that he is tired. One can only imagine what would have happened if he had fallen asleep while driving, or was involved in a collision. The recent high speed accident on the same stretch of road which claimed the lives of two young people is still fresh in our minds", says Chief Inspector Merle Lourens, media spokesperson for Cape Town Traffic Services.

A total of 1633 speed fines with the highest speeds being 165, 174, 180 and 221 km/h were recorded on Kromboom Parkway. A further 305 traffic fines were also issued for a range of other offences and 12 cars were suspended due to various defects.

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Issued by:
Communication Department
City of Cape Town