Traffic fine for cycling on the N1 freeway - Woodstock cycle path frustration

[DJR]

If you paid it online using your credit card, your bank can reverse the payment.

Edit: For if you are sure you should not have been fined and decide to change your mind 

Edited March 4 by DJR

[Zebra]

IIRC, our respected Premier, Mr. Alan Winde, himself an avid cyclist, was robbed of his cellphone on that VERY stretch next to My Citi bus lane/Woodstock…

What makes it all the more REMARKABLE, was his security detail was WITH him, and he still got robbed…, at knife-point.

Article here:

https://iol.co.za/news/2013-02-18-mec-they-robbed-me-of-my-trust/
 

(I am willing to ASSIST with talking to authorities about POTENTIALLY opening up a cycle ‘section’ to bypass the ‘notorious’ section, but do not want to head this up…)

Cheers

Chris

[Bankie99]

This is a freaking joke and I wouldn’t accept that fine and never in my life will I pay such ****🙄

I commute to the waterfront from the north via this section 2-3 times per week and take this route without fail as the bus/cycle lane is an absolute death wish. Been doing this for 10 years and took the bus/cycle lane when it was still new and safe but those days are long gone.😢

I can’t believe the audacity of them even considering to fine cyclists using that stretch of road be it legal or illegal as we don’t have any safer alternatives. I would love to ride through the harbour but I’ve been denied access time after time. 

They can have a field day handing out fines on Saturday and Sunday mornings with hundreds of cyclists heading to town/chappies every weekend along that route🙄

[mikkelz]

Holy ****, this is ridiculous.

Taxpayers really getting it from both ends.

[thejoshswin]

I've got some contact details for a few different people to do with urban mobility/security so will see where it goes from here.

I'm not too stressed about the fine at this point, I'd just like to push to get the cycle path open and safe again, because the N1 is not so lekker with the traffic etc. anyway, especially if you on a road bike. 

[thejoshswin]

38 minutes ago, Zebra said:

IIRC, our respected Premier, Mr. Alan Winde, himself an avid cyclist, was robbed of his cellphone on that VERY stretch next to My Citi bus lane/Woodstock…

What makes it all the more REMARKABLE, was his security detail was WITH him, and he still got robbed…, at knife-point.

Article here:

https://iol.co.za/news/2013-02-18-mec-they-robbed-me-of-my-trust/
 

(I am willing to ASSIST with talking to authorities about POTENTIALLY opening up a cycle ‘section’ to bypass the ‘notorious’ section, but do not want to head this up…)

Cheers

Chris

Hey Chris, 

I'm not sure I would know where to start to head up something like this but I'd also be keen to chat to authorities or do whatever is necessary to allow safe cycling through that area again. It would be so great to be able to link it up with the rest of the cycle path....the trucks on Marine drive are also a problem. I've sent a few emails out will let you know what comes of it. 

[F@yino]

How did he give you a fine? Bicycles don’t have a number plate.

[thejoshswin]

5 minutes ago, F@yino said:

How did he give you a fine? Bicycles don’t have a number plate.

He asked for my details/id and I gave it to him 

[Madone69]

7 minutes ago, thejoshswin said:

He asked for my details/id and I gave it to him 

So you are Jacob Zuma ..id 6606161234083

[mrcg]

Another option might be for the city to approach Transnet and build a safe cycle lanes through the harbour. That would actually be the best bet. Right along the fence away from the road, traffic etc. Haven't scouted the route, but if memory serves me correctly, then there is a way

[DJR]

7 hours ago, Madone69 said:

So you are Jacob Zuma ..id 6606161234083

I am usually a Van Der Merwe ........... occasionally a Koos.

[RossTopher]

14 hours ago, thejoshswin said:

I've been commuting using the N1 - Marine Drive between town and Paarden Eiland for almost a year now. Generally ride in the yellow lane which is mostly quite spacious and feels safe enough - and on the way back I cycle on the grass verge so I don't have to cycle head on into the traffic. 

I've used this route due to the fact that the cycle path past Woodstock is unsafe due to muggings/ bikejackings. 

Today on my way to work I was stopped by a traffic officer in an unmarked BMW hatchback and told I was spotted by the cameras and that I have to pay a fine for cycling on the freeway which is of course illegal. 

I explained to him the situation with the Woodstock cycle path but he didn't offer any suggestions and just ignored me - so after a joke which I thought was in bad taste about my fine being R3000 (which gave me a bit of a fright)- he handed me my fine which was actually R300, which I've since paid. Operating a pedal cycle on a freeway 😆

My question is - does anyone know who we can chat to to get the Woodstock cycle path safe to use ? Could we rally together and sign a petition or something?  It's extremely frustrating to have this great cycle path that we can't make use of ! 

Why on earth would you pay it... it should have been delivered right to our dear poseur Premiers desk, with some polite words.

 

Hell, hand him an invoice on Sunday.

[W Smith]

13 hours ago, ChrisF said:

Pity you paid (I also would have)

 

This NEEDS to be tested in COURT .... go on RECORD with the unsafe situation

 

Go on record with officials handing out soft fines rather than addressing the route cause ....

 

 

Our lected leaders are NOT pro cycling despite their WORDS ..... Their IN-ACTIONS speaks much loader.

 

 

Our premier and mayor are little more than empty word opportunists ....

Have you ever appeared in a criminal court? Try convincing a sullen magistrate that "officials handing out soft fines rather than addressing the route cause ...." is a pipe dream. You may just rise the ire of the magistrate who has to listen daily to flimsy arguments dressed up as defences.

[Mook]

14 hours ago, thejoshswin said:

R Claassen - Officer number 10039502 ; officer group 315. He was in an unmarked BMW (I think the I3 or something similar, with blue lights. He gave me a ticket with a court summons in June and payment required about a month before the court date. I paid when I got to work via the City of CT fines website. It's an 'admission of guilt' which makes me worry that I now have a criminal record. 

 

 

Nah, you will not have a criminal record for paying a fine.

Most of us on TheHub would have been on Interpol's most wanted list by now if ☝️ was the case ....... sorry, I would have been on that list.

This is so typical of current law enforcement in SA.

[Stretched@Birth]

I know this is going to be an unpopular opinion but I feel it needs to be said.  You cannot justify a wrong (it is against the law to ride a bicycle on a highway) by saying that you are doing it because the alternative is unsafe.

By all means, fight the municipality and local law enforcement on the state of the alternative road, the lawlessness, the lack of policing, etc.  But you cannot justify your unlawful act (and yes, that stretch of road may not yet be highway, but that is then a different fight), by saying you are doing it because there is no safe alternative route.

If the person who mugs you at knifepoint on the unsafe stretch of road justifies his action by saying that he has no alternative but to steal because the government has caused an economic situation where he cannot find work, would that make it ok?  I doubt it.  

[Pure Savage]

If you were inbound the freeway ends at the woodstock bridge, I have had a spirited discussion with a traffic cop before, we even went back and there are no high way signs on that on ramp. 

He would be busy on Tuesday morning with the 65 of us coming in.