admin
makes it an offence to ride a pedal cycle at night without wearing retro-reflective material.
Retro-reflectors for other vehicles
Section 39 of Statutory Instrument 154 of 2010 outlines the requirements for other vehicles other than heavy vehicles, or commercial motor vehicles, or commercial motor vehicles or a motorcycle.
It is a legal requirement that all such vehicles are fitted with two red retro-reflectors at the rear within 400mm of either side of the vehicle measured from the outer edge of the rear vehicle. They must be at the same height. The reflective material must meet the general requirements stated in Section 32 of the same instrument. It is an offence to fit retro-reflectors that do not meet the minimum measurements required by law.
Retro-reflectors on the sides of vehicles
If a vehicle exceeds an overall length of eight metres, or is a heavy vehicle or a combination of vehicles, it must be fitted with amber retro-reflectors.
The retro-reflectors shall consist of a continuous strip extending to within 400mm of the two outer edges.
They shall be fitted at a height of not less than 300mm and not more than 1,2m from the ground.
If the structure of the vehicle or combination of vehicles or heavy vehicle is such that it is not possible to fix the retro-reflectors as a continuous strip, the retro-reflectors shall be fixed as near as possible to the requirement stated above.
Warning Signs – Trailers
Any light trailer being drawn on any road shall have, fixed to it, a continuous red retro-reflector fixed to the rear of the trailer extending to within 400mm of the trailer measured from the outer edges of the reflector to the outer edges of the trailer.
Any other trailer other than a light trailer must meet the requirements stated in Section 37 and Section 32 except subsection (1) (b) and (c) and (4) (c).
The trailer to be drawn by a vehicle on any road must display a white reflective “T” fitted to the extreme right of the trailer and a red reflective “T” to the extreme right rear of the vehicle. The sign must be no more than 1,2m above ground level.
The letter “T” shall be not less than 150mm high, and 120mm wide and the stroke of letters shall be not less than 50mm thick and placed on a black background not less than 200mm in height and 175mm in width.
Pedal cyclists and visibility
Section (33) (4) of Statutory Instrument 154 of 2010 compels all cyclists who ride a pedal cycle at night to wear retro-reflective material on their clothing.
Such material must be visible from a distance of at least 50m when illuminated by headlamps when not deflected downwards.
One may need to know the definition of night.
Night is defined as the period between 530pm and 630am the following day.
Therefore it is an offence to ride a pedal cycle between the above stated times while not wearing the required retro-reflective.
The Zimbabwe Republic Police is empowered by this instrument (Statutory Instrument 154 of 2010) to arrest such cyclists. At law, ignorance is no defence.
Conclusion
This brings to the end a series of articles on retro-reflectors. Motorists and all road users are encouraged to read road regulations and adhere to them. All traffic laws have a safety objective. Statutory Instrument 154 of 2010 has some amendments and must, therefore, be read with Statutory Instrument 44 of 2011 and Statutory Instrument 140 of 2011.
The amendments are mainly on effective dates. Our next article is “Accident analysis by Traffic Safety Council of Zimbabwe” which I believe will make interesting reading for motorists and transport managers.
- The writer, Ernest Muchena, is the spokesperson of the Traffic Safety Council of Zimbabwe. He is a defensive driving expert and can be contacted on 0772 110 898 or 04-751208 (3). Email: [email protected] or [email protected]
Online Reporter