City to clamp down on drag racing

Monday, April 4, 2011

Pretoria - The Tshwane Metropolitan Municipality says it is taking immediate steps to crack down on illegal drag racing on the notorious Voortrekker road in Gezina, north of the city, following last night's fatal accident which left three people dead. 

The three people died when the cars in which they were racing collided.

According to spokesperson William Baloyi, as part of the strategy to prevent drag racing, they are going to synchronise traffic lights to make it difficult for the drag racers to continue with the practice.

"We are also going to patrol that stretch of the road 24 hours a day," he said.

Baloyi warned that police will hunt down those involved in drag racing as it is illegal and extremely dangerous.

Voortrekker Road is often used for drag racing on Sundays.

"We are also appealing to members of the public to stop glorifying these guys but to call the police when they see them drag racing," Baloyi said.

In last night's incident, it is alleged that four cars were drag racing when two of them collided. One of the cars smashed into a street pole, catching fire with the driver still inside. Two people died on the scene while the third died on the way to the hospital.

Baloyi said they also intend to rope in community members to assist in stopping this. "We are looking for those that are known to take part in the [activity] and we are going to arrest them," he said. 

He explained to BuaNews that in the past, it has been difficult to clamp down on drag racers as they always move to other venues. "This time we are going to intensify our visibility in all the areas and we are going to arrest them," he said. - BuaNews