Your licence may not be valid
“Periodically I am stopped by the traffic department and told that I can’t ride my motorcycle due to the fact that I only have one leg.”
Wesley Meier lost his leg in a motorbike accident two years ago. “When the traffic department officials stop me they say I can’t ride my scooter due to my disability. Next, they ask for my driver’s licence. When they realise that I have no restrictions on my licence, they then start with a thorough check of the scooter. The vehicle’s licence, tyres, number plates, indicators and lights etc.”
Meier said that he is very pleased that the traffic department officials are doing their work. “One Thursday I was stopped again and I requested that they show me the section in the Traffic Ordinance that restricts me from riding a scooter with a disability if my driver’s licence is not endorsed.”
The George Traffic Department was approached for comment on the matter. Mark Green, chief of traffic said he has referred the query to the Department of Transport for an official response as they are the regulatory body in terms of driving licences.
An official in the traffic department spoke to the George Herald on condition of anonymity. “Check the green form called ‘Application for Driving Licence’, all the answers are there. The green form is a declaration that the driver signs that binds him to the terms and conditions of the National Road Traffic Act, 1966. The fact that this is a declaration signed by you, the driver, means that the officials in the office can only assist when asked for clarity on a matter. We may not assist you in your declaration as you are stating in section (e) ‘that all the particulars furnished by me in this form are true and correct’. This means that sometimes we are hauled over the coals for being unhelpful when in fact we may not do more than just explain or clarify a point.”
A drivers licence is issued in terms of Chapter IV section 12 of the National Road Traffic Act 1996 (Act 93 of 1996). In Section 16(a) of the act states that: “The person that is the holder of a licence becomes aware thereof that he or she is disqualified from holding such licence, shall, with in a period of 21 days after having so become aware of the disqualification, submit the licence or, in the case where it is contained in an Identity Document, submit that document to the chief executive officer.”
Upon perusal of the green ‘Application for Drivers Licence’ form and the National Road Traffic Act, Meier was flabbergasted when he realised that his licence may not be valid. “I am going to the traffic department so that they can endorse my licence so that it can be legal again. I really never knew that the onus was on me to inform the traffic department after my accident, but it makes sense now. I am sure I am not the only one and I request that any person who has had a change in his or her physical or mental condition, contact the authorities as well.”
ARTICLE: MYRON RABINOWITZ
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Source: George Herald