Anna Cox
THE MINISTER of Transport, Dullah Omar has reminded operators of all old and new vehicles and trailers over 10 000kg GVM that distinctive yellow retro-reflective tape must be fitted to the side and rear of their heavy vehicles and trailers.
The legislation requiring such markings on old vehicles as well as new ones, came into operation on January 1.
Omar said it would be implemented with immediate effect in all the provinces. A recent survey on the main trunk roads showed that about 50% of all heavies already had the tape fixed, and indicated the positive way in which the legislation had been received, he said.
From July 1999, Regulation 192A required all new vehicles and trailers over 10 000 kg GVM to be fitted with the tape and since January 1 this year, all the existing heavy vehicles and trailers over 10 000 kg GVM on the roads have had to be fitted with this tape on the sides and rear.
Regulation 191 also requires that the chevron boards on all vehicles over 3 500 kg GVM must have the new, double-reflective material meaning that the yellow must also be retro-reflective as well as the red effective since January 1.
These are the most brilliant steps forward in road safety that we have seen for many years, especially for motorists who drive at night and see the bright trucks and buses on the roads which have been fitted with these retro-reflective measures, quipped Omar.
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