A truck driver has been arrested on the N12 highway near the Atlas Road 0ff-ramp today by National Traffic Police for allegedly driving an unroadworthy heavy goods vehicle loaded with steel estimated at 4 million rands.
At around 08:30am while patrolling the highway members of the unit reached a scene and found a stationary 24-wheeler truck in the middle of the road causing a major traffic backlog.
Upon inspection authorities discovered the truck and trailer had numerous defects, including all 24 tyres worn out with exposed wires.
Due to friction and heavy load some of the tyres were rubbing against each other on the axle of the trailer.
The truck was travelling from Germiston to Mpumalanga along the N12 highway and did not have a licence disc displayed.
Both the driver a “Zimbabwean national” and the operator from KMB product company had no public transport documentation and have been taken into police custody.
The driver will face charges of reckless and negligent driving, operating an unroadworthy vehicle.
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The truck has been impounded and will not be released until all the defects have been fixed and R25 000 in impoundment fees has been paid.
The suspects will appear in court soon.
From January 2021 to September 2022 over 378 people have died in road crashes involving trucks and 343 people sustained injuries.
The RTMC would like to warn truck operators that their licences will be suspended, and criminal charges laid against them for failing to ensure that their vehicles are in a roadworthy condition to be operated on the roads.
RTMC
