I would like to find what is the position of the law around overtaking vehicles. I was given a traffic fine ticket for overtaking in an area without a barrier line. The officer said I was endangering the oncoming traffic, yet I had carried the overtaking without any problems, no breaking, no getting off the road from the cars I overtook and the one coming on the right-hand side. The vehicle coming on my right was far away and had just left the speed hump and moving slow. I had ample space to overtake and did so safely. My question is, is it in the interest of safety to be uncertain when it comes to overtaking? I find it strange because I don’t know when is overtaking lawful or unlawful. Surely there has to be guidelines as to what constitutes dangerous…
Answer:
Without going into a voluminous response to your email, as a general rule, overtaking is never lawful when there is oncoming traffic present.
It is always safer to wait until the road ahead is clear of any oncoming traffic before attempting to undertake a manoeuvre which would see you encroaching on the other side of the road carrying traffic coming towards you.
There are a number of reasons for this, not least of all is to avoid the possibility of a head-on collision occurring. Even if, in your estimation, the vehicle approaching you is travelling slowly, it is impossible to predict what another motorist will do and whether they will maintain their speed or indeed – speed up.
To answer your question directly, it is definitely NOT in the interests of road safety to be uncertain of when to overtake and when not to. I guess the best policy to adopt is “when in doubt – DON’T overtake”.
Best Regards,
Howard Dembovsky
National Chairman – Justice Project South Africa (NPC)
Also view:
Safe Overtaking and Road Safety
