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The Automobile Association says Presidential Protection Unit convoys transporting politicians on the country's roads continue to pose a road safety threat for all motorists, and their operation should be reviewed.
The AA says in a statement that it will be communicating with the Ministers of Police and Transport to have such a review of the so-called Blue Light Brigades instituted urgently.
The Association says there's growing anecdotal evidence that Blue Light Brigades are a threat to other road users and that the VIP passengers are as much to blame as the Presidential Protection Unit drivers.
It further argues that such behaviour negates any attempts by the government to address the country's high annual road death numbers.
Section 58(3) of the National Road Traffic Act (NRTA) permits drivers of emergency vehicles such as traffic officers and duly authorised drivers, as well as particularly a “person appointed in terms of the South African Police Service Act who drives a vehicle in the carrying out of his or her duties” to disregard the directions of a road traffic sign displayed in the prescribed manner.
Regulation 176 of the NRTA further states that drivers on the road are supposed to give an absolute right of way to a vehicle sounding a device or bell or displaying an identification lamp.
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