R1000 fine for hogging the fast lane

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Refusing to give way while driving in the right, or “fast” lane could cost motorists a R1000 fine for inconsiderate driving. Motorist Steven Taylor (28) has refused to pay the fine he received from a Ghost Squad officer. Taylor was driving in the fast lane at about 130 km/hr on the N1 towards Cape Town on July 16. He said an unmarked car had come up behind him and indicated he should move by flashing headlights. When he failed to give way, the officer switched on the blue lights, pulled him over and issued him with a R1000 fine for inconsiderate driving. “If it was an emergency vehicle I would've given way immediately, but not to someone driving so close behind me and forcing me to move,” said Taylor. “I don't have a problem paying the fine if I disobeyed the law.” Mayoral committee member for Safety and Security, JP Smith said he too had been unaware of the rules about driving in the fast lane. But once a fine had been issued, the prosecutor or magistrate handling the case would have to decide whether or not the fine could be dismissed, he said. “Once a fine has been written, we don't have the power to overturn it.”

The Special Provisions Relating to Freeways, regulation 323 in section five and six states:

-Where the driver of a motor vehicle which is being driven in the right-hand traffic lane or in the traffic lane furthest to the right on a freeway (hereinafter referred to as the first vehicle) becomes aware that the driver of another motor vehicle (hereinafter referred to as the second vehicle) intends to overtake the first vehicle, the driver of the first vehicle shall steer that vehicle to a lane to the left of the one in which he or she is driving, without endangering himself or herself or other traffic or property on the freeway, and shall not accelerate the speed of his or her vehicle until the second vehicle has passed.

-For the purposes of (above regulation) the driver of the second vehicle may make the driver of the first vehicle aware that he or she intends to overtake the first vehicle by giving the driver thereof a visible signal by means of flashing the headlights of his or her vehicle.