My Court Experience

Sometime towards the end of 2007, I was trapped by a speed camera. Not a fixed one, but a cop operated one on the side of the road. Now I'm the first to admit I'm not always entirely law abiding on the roads and have had a couple of fines in my lifetime. But this one made me just mad.

The freeway (highway for some of you) that joins the southern suburbs of Cape Town to the city center is called the M3. It's a road I drive everyday. On this particular day I was on my way home. As you come down a certain hill the speed limit is 80kmph and as you round the bend it changes to 100kmph.

I figure if I can see a sign, I can drive that speed. I don't believe that I need to pass the sign before I can accelerate. Boy was I wrong. The cop was sitting UNDERNEATH the 100 sign. He trapped me going 99kmph 10 meters in front of it. I got a whacking great fine.

So I decided that I wasn't going to pay it, I was going to write letters. I wrote 2 letters and never heard back. In February I got the court summons. So I decided to go.

When I got into the court, I was told I can either ask for a reduction or fight it. Now that would mean spending that entire day in court and at least one other. I asked about writing letters and was told that's a waste of time.

I have 4 small kids, I can't sit for days in a courtroom. So I had to pay it. I know in theory I was speeding - but COME ON. All that is doing is trying to make money, not trying to slow the traffic down.