LAWS TO PROTECT CYCLISTS ENCOURAGED
Cyclists in Cape Town are in an uproar after Garth Pasha was sentenced.
Pasha was facing charges of attempted murder, reckless and negligent driving, and driving under the influence when he struck cyclist Dewald van der Westhuizen with his car in 2023.
Pasha, who is a member of the South African Navy, hit van der Westhuizen while driving on Glencairn Main Road new Fish Hoek and drove off.
Neil Robinson, CEO of the Pedal Power Association, says stronger laws are needed to protect cyclists after Pasha was handed a R13,000 fine along with a suspended jail sentence.
"South Africa is lawless, we talk on our cell phones without hands free, we do 61 in a 60 zone, when this kind of thing happens, you would think it's obvious that there are going to be proper punishments handed out for something like this, clearly he wasn’t passing, giving the rider a one meter space and I mean this is basic 101 physics so I'm not sure as to how we move forward with this.”
Although there is a one-meter pass law between cars and bicycles in the Western Cape, motorists aren’t abiding by the law and cyclists are arguing that the law isn’t harsh enough.
Image credit: EWN
