The Growler mentioned in an earlier thread that he was off on a motorbike Toy Run, to help underpriveleged kiddies.
Well, they did that here....
Cape Town's traffic department has admitted that it treated the premier motorcycle charity event of the year as a cash cow. Officers of its technical section set up a speed trap on the morning of December 1 specifically to target riders heading for the annual Charity Toy Run, which begins at Ottery Hypermarket.
Riders quickly reported spotting the camera trap on their way in to the Toy Run but it took until the following Thursday for IOL to get confirmation of its existence from a traffic cop who asked ? for obvious reasons ? not to be named.
Late that day City Police chief Mark Sangster officially confirmed the presence of the trap to IOL Motoring and agreed it was of a type known as a "back to back" and used specifically to trap motorcyclists: it photographs the allegedly speeding vehicle from behind (motorcycles have no front number plates).
The Scrooges of the Freeway set up the trap before 9am on the morning of the Toy Run on the southbound lane of the Black River Parkway, roughly opposite the old Kodak building, and it remained in use for most of the morning ? at least until after the start of the parade at 11am.
The parkway is the main route to Ottery for any road user coming from the northern or West Coast suburbs and the vast majority of the more than 6 000 bikers who rode in the Toy Run would have used this route.
Despite being ordered by Sangster to answer IOL's questions, acting Chief Inspector Kevin Heckrath of the traffic department's technical section, which operates all speed traps, has repeatedly evaded IOL's phone calls and has failed to divulge how many riders were caught in the Toy Run Blitz - or at what speeds they were trapped.
Yesterday ? more than a week after the Scrooges of the Freeway spread their version of Christmas cheer - Heckrath instructed a Sergeant Castle of the City Police to say that he still had to work through all the rolls of film and that IOL should call again "in the next week".
The mind boggles at such inefficiency! If the task is going to take that long, just how many motorcyclists, having spent their hard-earned cash on toys to be donated to underprivileged children at the Toy Run, will have to dig deep into their pockets once more for the privilege ? we're talking anything up to an estimated R200 000 in total.
The fact that some members of the traffic department were cynical enough to use the one day of the year when motorcyclists feel that the authorities are on their side to target them so specifically leaves a sour taste in the mouth ? not least among those hard-working traffic cops who give up their free time every year to make sure that Cape Town's biggest parade goes off safely and pleasantly.
What a monumental public relations blunder!
This blatant exploitation of a "soft target" just to line the city's coffers only serves to reinforce the perception that traffic cops are only in it for the money ? the easier the better, with no thought of policing the thousands of dangerous drivers and unroadworthy vehicles that make our road so hazardous.
This is what this miserable bunch of misers should do:
Admit that they blundered ? then allow riders who were trapped the option of paying the same amount as their fine to the city's cash-strapped Red Cross Children's Hospital ? the receipt to be proof of payment of the fine.
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One of my favorite Ogri's [1] was the one where he's dispatching; delivering kidneys urgently required to the childrens hospital.
The rozzers are trying to stop him on his way for speeding. Great.
A contrived situation that I suspect may be impossible (I doubt kiddie kidneys are sent by dispatcher) but it made me grin at a time when a set of fresh points were weighing down heavily on my license.
[1] From Bike Magazine.
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These are my own opinions, and not necessarily those of all Toads.
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Dumb porkers indeed down there in SA on this occasion. But perhaps the organisers could have done more to "set up" the fuzz in advance so that they would have knopw to behave themselves.
Happily our Toy Run has the blessing (obtained specifically in advance) of some extremely senior people, full coverage by TV news channels, and will adhere to a preset 80 kph limit with riders two per lane in staggered formation and marshals in the outer lane. Anyone meddling officialdom would look pretty stupid. Also our expressways are privately run, and the national police has no jurisdiction on them, only the tollway authority patrol is allowed to enforce the laws, so we should be OK.
We view these events obviously as a bit of fun for us, very much more so for the kids, and an opportunity to demonstrate safe and responsible riding to the general public in a positive setting.
With the traffic in Manila reaching almost 24 hour gridlock proportions at times, it behoves the authorities to sit up and take notice when responsible bikers and scooters organisations show the benefit of two wheels. Filipinos love kids, Christmas and parties of any sort, thank goodness.
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