Bicycle Trailers to be Legalized; Thanks to PeakOil Economic Collapse Petition to Transport Min.

A Petition to the Western Cape MEC for Transport and Public Works, Mr Robin Carlisle to approve a bicycle trailer to be used on a Public Road has been tenatively approved by the National Minister for Transport and Public Works.

I herewith petition the Minister to authorise in writing, either generally or specifically, the operation on a public road in the Western Cape, of the following Bicycle Trailer (known as a Haulin Colin (www.haulincolin.com) Bike Trailer, as used by ecologically conscious cyclists and small business owners in California, Seattle and elsewhere). I have been informed by Officials at George Motor Vehicle Licensing, that ‘bicycle trailers’ are prohibited by the Road Traffic Act: National Road Traffic Regulations, 1999: Section 330(1)(g). Traffic officials were at a loss to explain the logic of this law, which prohibits the poor and ecologically conscious from using bicycle trailers to transport their business or home produce, which would be a sustainable healthy business and personal transportation alternative with zero carbon dioxide vehicle emissions. Many felt citizens should be given financial incentives to do so.

Mr. MJ Gallant, Senior Manager at Traffic Law Administration, confirmed that the Petition had been approved, pending investigation by the Vehicle Technical Committee (VTC) and the South African Bureau of Standards (SABS), which will, “if successful, enable the National Regulator for Compulsory Specifications (NRCS) to compile the technical specifications before the matter can be legislated.”

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