JMPD's speeding crackdown: Joburg motorists face arrests in 80km/h zones

30km/h over the speed limit is enough to get you arrested in an urban area. Picture: JMPD

30km/h over the speed limit is enough to get you arrested in an urban area. Picture: JMPD

Published Dec 21, 2024

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140km/h might not seem like an extreme speed, but it can certainly be deadly and in a zone with a lower speed limit, it is more than sufficiently fast to get you arrested.

The Johannesburg Metro Police Department (JMPD) this week arrested over 14 motorists for speeding, with the highest speed recorded being 144km/h in an 80km/h zone.

The JMPD’s High-Speed unit conducted operations at the corner of Allandale and Kynoch roads in Midrand and at the N17 and Soweto Motorway in Pennyville.

The suspects were detained at the Rabie Ridge and Orlando police stations.

According to Section 35 of the National Road Traffic Act, a motorist can be arrested for exceeding the speed limit by just 30km/h in an urban area or on a public road outside an urban area, or by 40km/h on a freeway.

This means you could be arrested for driving 90km/h in a 60km/h zone, or at 110km/h where the limit is 80km/h.

Other road infringements are also being monitored by police over the festive season.

On Saturday JMPD officers set up a law enforcement operation in central Johannesburg, focusing on drunk driving, distracted driving, and unroadworthy vehicles.

The past weekend saw 129 motorists arrested throughout the city, for a wide range of offences, including drunk driving, with breathalyser readings appearing over the legal limit of 0.24 mg/l.

National and provincial Traffic Police members also conducted a successful roadblock along the N1 highway in Polokwane this week, where five vehicles were impounded and 32 traffic related fines issued, mostly for unroadworthy vehicles. Two males were arrested for bribery and another for fraud.

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