THE DA in KwaZulu-Natal confirmed yesterday that it plans to introduce a private members bill.
The party said it felt that if the bill were passed by the provincial legislature it would put an end to blue light bullying on the province's roads.
The announcement by DA spokesperson on transport, Radley Keys, comes hot on the heels of allegations that provincial Social Development MEC Meshack Radebe misused blue lights last week, putting the contentious issue back in the spotlight.
It was reported that Radebe got involved in a collision with another car while driving his Lexus, with blue lights blazing, on the N2 in Tongaat on the North Coast a fortnight ago.
"The DA is not opposed to the use of blue lights in legitimate emergency situations but we are dead set against the abuse of blue lights for all manner of so-called crises," Keys said.
He said they planned to introduce the bill during the next two months.
"We hope it will be passed. But in case it does not we will see whether we can do the amendments on the existing Transport Act," he said.
"The current law (Transport Act) is not prescriptive enough, which is why we feel it should be amended."
The wanton use of blue lights became a contentious issue when Radebe's VIP driver, Constable Hlanganani Nxumalo, was arrested for allegedly shooting at the tyre of a moving car because the driver was too slow moving out of the fast lane on November 15 2008.
The driver of the Mazda lost control, veered into oncoming traffic and collided head-on with a bakkie. Eight of the six people in each car were injured.
DA ACTS AGAINST BLUE LIGHT ABUSE
THE DA in KwaZulu-Natal confirmed yesterday that it plans to introduce a private members bill.
The party said it felt that if the bill were passed by the provincial legislature it would put an end to blue light bullying on the province's roads.
The announcement by DA spokesperson on transport, Radley Keys, comes hot on the heels of allegations that provincial Social Development MEC Meshack Radebe misused blue lights last week, putting the contentious issue back in the spotlight.
It was reported that Radebe got involved in a collision with another car while driving his Lexus, with blue lights blazing, on the N2 in Tongaat on the North Coast a fortnight ago.
"The DA is not opposed to the use of blue lights in legitimate emergency situations but we are dead set against the abuse of blue lights for all manner of so-called crises," Keys said.
He said they planned to introduce the bill during the next two months.
"We hope it will be passed. But in case it does not we will see whether we can do the amendments on the existing Transport Act," he said.
"The current law (Transport Act) is not prescriptive enough, which is why we feel it should be amended."
The wanton use of blue lights became a contentious issue when Radebe's VIP driver, Constable Hlanganani Nxumalo, was arrested for allegedly shooting at the tyre of a moving car because the driver was too slow moving out of the fast lane on November 15 2008.
The driver of the Mazda lost control, veered into oncoming traffic and collided head-on with a bakkie. Eight of the six people in each car were injured.
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