Twelve demerit points equals no licence

I would imagine that in the UK and Australia, you could be reasonably sure that aside from over-zealous application of the law — I mean in Oz, you only need to pass wind at the wrong time of day to get into hot water — the promise of sweeteners to reduce the severity of a “sentence” will have absolutely no force or effect.
Regrettably, the promised introduction of the licence demerit system in South Africa will provide a fertile breeding ground for sweeteners to become even more common than they apparently are now.
Imagine someone who is just two points away from losing his licence, who gets stopped by Plod with a laser gun for driving at a piddling 141km/h in the middle of the Karoo. The victim of the laser gun will not be keen to forego a driving licence in such circumstances and doubtless Plod will be tempted by the offer of sweeteners to make the penalty go away.
It’s not just the potential for back handers that’s such a worry though.  It’s the sheer inconsistency (and idiocy) of some of the penalties that is every bit as much cause for concern. SA is well endowed with very good multi-lane motorways, but their purpose of facilitating traffic flow and safety is thwarted by a multitude of airheads who drive in the right hand lane, usually well below the posted speed limit which, anyway, is sure to be unrealistically low. The only solution if you are a victim of these regular lane blockers is to pass on the left ( a perfectly safe manoeuvre on a motorway), but if you read the new legislation, the penalty deduction for “illegally overtaking on the left” is an outrageous three points. That’s the same penalty as is applied for the oft-lethal crime of overtaking on a blind rise. Ridiculous.
Now consider that the same legislation allows for no deduction of points for smoking vehicles, for using “worn, damaged or illegal tyres”,  for having a defective speedo and for having two “non-functional indicators” just as examples. There are plenty more. Each of these rather serious defects attracts a fine of a piffling R250.
The Western Cape, and I’m sure in many other major centres in the republic, is criss-crossed with lots of beautifully-surfaced dual lane roads that are not classified as motorways, but a high proportion of these are restricted with utterly absurd 60km/h speed restrictions.  Because the limit is nothing more than an aberration, it ensures that the traffic Plods spend bigger part of their days hiding behind armo barriers or Port Jackson willows with their speed guns. This, after all, is easier meat than the annual sardine run and doubtless the predatory Plods are on a commission, so this is the territory where more motorists will lose their licences than anywhere else.
After all, travelling at the giddy speed of 96km/h on one of these oft-deserted highways will cost you R1 500 and the loss of five points. But remember, as compensation, you can crest a blind rise on the wrong side of the road and only lose three points and R1 000. And you can do so on bald tyres for a mere additional deduction of one point and R250 per tyre.
Where is the balance and where is the logic? There simply isn’t any and sadly; there are plenty more examples I could expound on, but were I to do so, there would be no more space left for other articles in your favourite weekly read.
Surtees dies
Older readers will remember the exploits of John Surtees (75), the only person ever to win world titles on two wheels and four.
Sadly, his 18-year-old son, Henry, was killed at Brands Hatch in a Formula 2 race last Sunday in the most tragic of circumstances. A fellow competitor hit the armo barrier on the outside of a right hander with sufficient force to detach a rear wheel which bounced across the track and struck the following Surtees on the head.  The latter’s car continued at unabated speed into the barriers of the next corner, but Surtees was already unconscious and died in hospital as a result of the wheel impact.
Fortunate Ford
Just over a year ago, the Ford Motor Company was widely derided for selling its Jaguar/Land Rover empire at a huge loss. The two companies cost Ford US$5,3 billion and they realised just US$2,3 billion, a poor deal even in Zimbabwean economics.
Someone in Ford must have seen what was coming or simply didn’t have faith in
the bottom-line potential of two of Britain’s most famous brands because no sooner had Tata sealed the purchase deal, than the worldwide recession began to bite.
The new owners have experienced 13 consecutive months of falling sales which are best illustrated by the fact that combined sales of the two brands were down by 39,1 percent in the first six months of 2009. The slide has seen 2 000 Jaguar/Land Rover employees lose their jobs and now a further 300 are to go. Worse still, the poor-selling Jaguar X-Type is to be completely axed from the product line-up by the year end.
All this translates into a US$510 million loss for Jaguar/Land Rover in the 10 months up to the end of March and meant that the Tata company made an overall loss for the first time in eight years.
Ford’s escape was unexpectedly well timed and largely accounts for why the proprietors of the Blue Oval logo have managed to avoid being sucked into all the bankruptcy problems that have bedevilled GM in the last year.
Nuclear Nissan for SA
 Nissan SA has announced that the stellar Nissan GT-R will be officially released onto the SA market any day now. Equipped with the latest uprated motor that produces a hefty 357kW, the GT-R is available in  two configurations, namely “Premium Edition” or “Black Edition”, both of which will apparently retail for R1 175 000.  The price includes a not overly-generous four-year/50 000km service plan and a more generous three-year/120 000km warranty.
The performance of this much-lauded Nissan is ballistic and of serious concern  to traditional supercar drivers, but I’m not sure where the fortunate owners will be able to stretch their GT-R’s legs as more and more roads, even of the dual lane variety, are hamstrung with utterly ludicrous 60km/h limits.
Even in the middle of the Karoo where sheeps’ skulls are the only proof that something once lived in the area, you will find Plod and his wretched laser traps ever keen to lighten the contents of your pockets. So good luck with your GT-Rs as you sit in the slipstream of a Hyundai Getz thundering along SA’s deserted national roads at a mind-warping 120km/h. 
Ring of confidence
Apart from an uncharacteristically indifferent showing at this year’s Le Mans, a trait shared with cousin-to-be Porsche’s usually bullet proof 911 GT3, the four rings of Audi have been putting in a really good trot while most other manufacturers flounder.
In the calendar year 2008, Audi shifted more than one million vehicles for the first time in its history and turned a profit of 3,2 billion euros on turnover of 34 billion euros.
It also ended the 2009 half-year as top-selling luxury brand in Europe and China and made big inroads in the US where its Q5 model has been  enthusiastically received.
While the general downturn intensified further, Audi still managed to contribute 363 million euros to parent company VW’s bottom-line in the first quarter of the year.