Apart from a bit of driving across Europe and a road trip on
the west coast of America I’ve only ever driven on the left hand side of the
road. On arrival in South Africa it was one of those things that I never gave
any consideration to and was pleasantly surprised to discover they drove the
same side as us in the UK. Make sure if you have a foreign licence it's translated into English.
The speed limit in SA is 120km and there are fixed and
portable cameras everywhere. We’ve all had speeding fines now, caught on camera
and the advice is ‘don’t pay it’ well we ignore the advice and have paid all 3.
There’s a 50% reduction if you pay
within 32 days but it usually takes 2-3 months before you receive your
notification and we just pay the 50%.
I’d strongly advise that if you get stopped by police with a mobile
camera you accept the fine and follow the instructions for payment. Apparently
you can just bribe a police man and he’ll make it go away, I’d strongly advise
you don’t do this. Everyone who tells you that, when pushed further, will admit
they’ve never offered a bribe, but a friend of the friend’s cat told them about
it.
The rules of the road are similar, keep left, and pass
right, the use of mobile phones whilst driving is illegal. These are ignored by
most, people weave frequently in the traffic and I’m afraid to say I also do
this, usually to avoid crashing into the back of a stationary vehicle in the
outside lane.
There are no official rules about vehicle maintenance and
the only time a car is required to have one is at point of sale. There are too
many vehicles on the roads without working lights, wipers, indicators and bald
tyres. Accidents are frequent and can involve numerous deaths in double
figures.
Sights like this are common and it’s usually the sheer volume of
people in the back that prevent them falling out.
Navigation is via GPS, people often give out GPS coordinates
which rarely reflect their actual physical address and can take you through
townships and off road rather than around, so always check the route before you
travel. The first journey I made with the GPS it yelled ‘warning’ and displayed
a picture of skull and crossbones at the junction. At areas of hijacking risks, police will sit in their cars with lights flashing as a deterrent.
Police also drive with their blue light on which I still find confusing. Driving
past townships in the day light is safer although best to avoid 1st
thing in the morning and late afternoon, this is because of the number of
taxi’s (mini buses) probably the most unsafe vehicle on the roads ,due to as I
mentioned before, no road vehicle checks.
People here navigate by road names not a letter and number
apart from the national Roads, N1, N2, N3 etc. The Municipality roads are known
by their names and have recently under gone a name change in Pretoria, making
it a constant adjustment for me, when people give me directions.
There’s no public transport in Gauteng apart from the
Gautrain and the local buses that service the station, the first time I went to
use it I discovered I had to have a card and have it pre loaded, similar to an
oyster card, no cash is taken on the journey, you just scan in and out. It was
very expensive and took me far longer to get to the airport than the car
would’ve, plus valet parking at the airport is exceptional value.
One of my favourite things about driving here are the storms
and the power outages. This often means the robots aren’t working. Robots are
traffic lights and work slightly differently to what I’m used to. They change
from red straight to green, missing out the amber light. When there is a power
outage and the lights fail as they do often, the roads turn into 4 way stops,
please note most people treat roundabouts and traffic circles as a 4 way stop
and at busy times of the day OUTsurance manage the flow of traffic.
It’s always best to do your windows up at the lights and 4
way stops, not so much to do with safety but to stop endless people selling you
useless items and begging for money and food. I like to put my sun glasses on
and remain aloof. Try not to fall for the classic trick when someone points at
the front of your car and you open your window to hear what they’re saying,
before you know it a Hello kitty sunshade will be thrust upon you.
I drive at night, but it’s not something I’d recommend you
doing unless you know the area well and stick to the main roads, even if it
does take slightly longer. You must stop at a red light at night, if you feel
unsafe and have checked the road is clear, and then proceed but you will need
to prove you felt unsafe if you get a ticket. People told me after 11pm I can
ignore the red lights and drive straight through, but again they got this info
from a friend of their cat.
Don’t stop to pick anyone up or to help anyone who has
broken down, this can be tricks used in hijacking. A few weeks ago a guy
tried to flag me down, I swerved and drove past. I drove straight into a high
jacking and shooting that had gone wrong, the police turned me round fairly
quickly.
Don't forget to stay in your car at the fuel pump. They fill your car for you as apparently it's not safe to do it yourself.
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