Interested stakeholders have until today (Wednesday, 20 January) to submit comments on the National Road Traffic Amendment Bill, which promises a host of changes for South African motorists.<\/p>\n
The most widely reported change is the\u00a0proposed total prohibition on the use and consumption of alcohol by all motor vehicle operators on South African public roads.<\/p>\n
The bill does this by deleting reference to any alcohol content in the blood or breath specimen of motor vehicle drivers on the road in South Africa.<\/p>\n
The National Road Traffic Act (NRA) currently enables those who have consumed alcohol to get behind the wheel provided they are under the blood alcohol limit.<\/p>\n
For normal drivers, the concentration of alcohol in any blood specimen must be less than 0.05 gram per 100 millilitres, and in the case of a professional driver, less than 0.02 gram per 100 millilitres.<\/p>\n
Other proposed changes included in the bill include:<\/p>\n
Number plates<\/strong><\/p>\n In an October presentation to parliament, Transport director-general Alec Moemi said that government is also planning to introduce new motor vehicle licence plates under the bill.<\/p>\n Moemi said that the new regulations are particularly important when identifying cars during road accidents.<\/p>\n \u201cWe are looking at a new system that will include the embedding of microdots into a new number plate, that will then be regulated.<\/p>\n \u201cManufacturers, as well as those that print out and issue them to motor vehicle owners (will also be regulated) so that number plates that are forged will be easily identified.\u201d<\/p>\n Microdots have seen increasing popularity as a safety feature on South African vehicles, and are classified as a particle with a diameter smaller than 1.8 mm which bears a unique, optically readable microdot identifier \u2013 typically the vehicle\u2019s 17-digit VIN number or another registered PIN.<\/p>\n Moemi said that technology which is currently employed across the country\u2019s highways, especially in Gauteng and Cape Town, as well as at the country\u2019s borders, will be able to scan these micro-dots.<\/p>\n Similar technology can also be deployed to scan vehicles that travel under highway bridges.<\/p>\n In addition to the benefits around road safety and crime, Moemi said that the new system will also allow the government to better understand road usage across the country.<\/p>\n He said that country\u2019s traffic impact is currently calculated by department employees at intersections or by using Gauteng\u2019s e-toll gantries.<\/p>\n \u201cIn this regard, these micro-dots will also help us (measure) traffic patterns and hotspots.\u201d<\/p>\n