For many participants, illegal street racing is driven by speed, adrenaline, and competition.
But for road safety experts, it is a dangerous activity that can have fatal consequences in a matter of seconds.
That reality was brought into sharp focus last month when a fatal crash during an alleged illegal street race along Steve Biko Road in Gezina, Pretoria, once again thrust the underground racing culture into the spotlight. While such incidents are often underreported and play out largely out of public view, they tend to surface most devastatingly, through fatal crashes that expose a broader problem on South Africa’s roads.
In KZN, Transport MEC Siboniso Duma has called on citizens to expose reckless drivers by contacting them or outing them on social media. Recently the department launched a hunt for a man and his friends who filmed themselves driving at breakneck speed while overtaking other users on the road.
“With institutions of higher learning and schools closed for winter holidays, we are bracing ourselves for illegal racings especially on excluded municipal roads. Our Road Traffic Inspectorate is working with traffic departments in various municipalities as part of clamping down against drag racing,” said Duma.
