We all have our own driving and stopping styles as motorists. Some of us wait patiently before the stop line, while others venture so far over the line they’re given a headstart to a non-existent race.
However, the days of crossing the line will soon be behind us in Cape Town due to the City’s decision to crack down on encroaching vehicles.
New in-road warning lights have begun illuminating the city, taking cues from the 2010 FIFA World Cup plans where lights of this nature were installed as inspired by the increase in foot traffic.
Now, the City’s brushed off its archived ideas and brought them to life once again.
Two installations have been made at two pedestrian crossings on Buitengracht Street in the CBD by the City’s Urban Mobility Directorate.
The motive? To create a “visual barrier ahead of the crossing line so that drivers get the message that stopping beyond the lights is not allowed,” says the City. This will also assist pedestrians who no longer have to dance their way through cars whilst crossing the street.
The Directorate hopes that these will be the first of many to appear at major traffic intersections.
Meanwhile, the City is shaking up traffic fine criteria in hopes to regain drivers’ “respect for the law” which will extend from the collection of fines to the severity of offences.
Also read: New changes in traffic fines hope to regain drivers’ “respect for the law”
Amongst these are new impound laws, which will see certain rule-breaking result in immediate impounding.
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Picture: City of Cape Town