Do you know the laws around automatic licence suspension?

Did you know that your driver’s license can be automatically suspended?

The Road Traffic Act states that a driver will automatically have his/her driver’s license suspended if found guilty of having exceeded the speed limit by 30km/h in a built-up area (city or urban) or by 40km/h over the speed limit outside a built-up area (highway and national roads including rural roads).

This means if you drive at, for example, 90km/h or more in a 60 speed limit zone around town or the suburbs, or at 160km/h or faster on a highway where the national speed limit of 120km/h applies, your driver’s license will be suspended.

If you cause a vehicle accident in which serious injury or death of another person was a result, your driver’s license will automatically be suspended, apart from other criminal charges one might have to face.

As a first offender, a period of 6 months minimum will apply for a suspended driver’s license, and for a second offence at least 5 years, with a third offender 10 years or longer.

If you rely on your driver’s license to get to work and back, perform your daily duties, transport your family, visit relatives and friends, go to church or religious place, or even just to drive to the shops… consider how it will affect your daily life, in your work and your personal life.