With 57 major roads in Cape Town and at least one fixed speed camera placed somewhere along the route, many roads actually have more than one camera, according to the Speed Camera Data Base (SCBD).
The SCBD is a website that ‘catalogues the location and speed requirement’ for every camera in more than 111 countries around the world, as reported by TopAuto.
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Three different types of speed cameras are utilised across South Africa, namely portable scanners, average-speed-over-distance cameras and fixed cameras.
The one that most road users are the most familiar with, is fixed cameras, which are usually painted yellow for visibility and are ‘placed at strategic locations’ along popular roads.
Fixed traps employ one of two methods to capture a vehicle’s speed, the first of which is piezoelectric strips that are ‘laid out across the road surface’.
The strips can read ‘mechanical or thermal inputs’ from cars that pass overhead, which are converted to ‘electrical signals’ that are communicated to the camera nearby.
When a person is speeding when they drive over the strip, the device will be triggered to take a photo of the car and its number plates.
Secondly, there are radar-based systems which transmit radio waves at passing vehicles, which bounce back to the camera, allowing the device to ‘map a change in frequency’ as a car travels over a monitored distance.
This determines whether the individual is speeding or not.
In order to issue a fine, fixed cameras must record the following data points:
- The date of offence
- The time of offence
- The location code
- The speed measured
- No obstructions should be apparent
- At least two photographs that indicate the vehicle’s position, with a clear image of the number plate
If this information is not provided, a fine may be considered invalid.
In addition, it is also important to note that fixed cameras are not required to have ‘sign placements warning’ of an upcoming speed trap.
The vast majority of fixed cameras in Cape Town are placed along the route to record vehicles driving too fast, but only a few of them are situated at intersections for ‘monitoring cars skipping red lights’.
You can see a list of every road with a fixed speed trap below. Note that longer roads may have several cameras with different speed requirements, which is denoted by the listings with multiple speed listings:
Fixed speed traps can be found on the following 57 major roads, but it should be noted that longer roads may have ‘several cameras with different speed requirements’:
- A Z Berman Drive: 60kph
- Beach Road: 50kph | 60kph
- Bosmansdam Road: 60kph | Red light
- Bottelary Road: Red light
- Boyes Drive: 60kph
- Brighton Road: 80kph
- Buitengracht Street: 60kph
- Buttskop Road: Red light
- De La Rey Road: 60kph
- Durbanville Road: 80kph
- Frans Conradie Drive: 60kph
- Govan Mbeki Road: 60kph
- Helen Suzman Boulevard: 50kph
- Jakes Gerwel Drive: 60kph
- Jan Smuts Drive: 60kph
- Kasselsvlei Road: 60kph
- Klipfontein Road: 60kph
- Kloof Nek Road: 60kph
- Kromboom Road: Red light
- M12: 60kph
- M16: 60kph
- M28: 60kph
- M29 Akkerboom Avenue: 60kph
- M31: 60kph
- M5: 60kph
- M57: 60kph
- M65 Kommetjie Road: 60kph
- M7: 60kph
- M9: 60kph
- Modderdam East Road: 70kph
- Morgenster Road: 60kph
- Main Road: 60kph
- N2: 70kph | 80kph | 120kph
- Okavango Road: 60kph
- Old Oak Road: 60kph
- Old Paarl Road: 60kph
- Old Sir Lowry’s Pass Road: 60kph
- Ottery Road: 60kph
- Otto du Plessis Drive: 60kph | 70kph
- Philadelphia Road: 70kph
- Philip Kgosana Drive: 60kph
- Prince George Drive: 70kph
- R102: 80kph
- R27: 120kph
- R44: 60kph
- R44 Gordon’s Bay Drive: 60kph
- Race Course Road: 60kph
- Ratanga Road: 60kph
- Retreat Road: 60kph
- Robert Sobukwe Road: 60kph | 70kph
- Rooivalk Close: 60kph
- Spine Road: 60kph
- Stellenbosch Road: 80kph
- Tygerberg Valley Road: 60kph
- Union Avenue: 60kph
- Van Riebeeck Road: 60kph
- Victoria Street: 60kph
Also read:
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Picture: @PigSpotter / X
