Smile! You’re on candid camera

You and your car just had an early Xmas photo shoot on our beautiful roads – by the traffic authorities! Judging by the hollow feeling in your stomach, you just know that you will not be receiving good news from the City in a short while.

What do you do to ensure that all not Xmas cheer is sucked out of your soul? Well, for starters, obtain a copy of your car’s mug shot from the authorities (see www.payfine.co.za or www.viewfines.co.za). These websites are fairly straightforward to follow.

Oh, please remember that your photo is free! So resist any scrooge-like overtures by the authorities to get you to pay for it.

Ok, now that you have a copy of your photo in your clammy paws, check for the following:

• Is it your car in the photo (pretty obvious! but there are unfortunately many instances of false plates being used on vehicles)
• That only your car appears on the photo (unless, of course, you want to pay for someone else’s ticket)
• That you were not changing lanes at the time
• That the range on the photo is not more than 400m
• The image of your car should have the time, speed and date of transgression embedded on the photo
• There are no obstructions, eg trees, trafffic signs, speeding taxis between the camera and your vehicle
• The crosshairs of the camera is on your vehicle registration plate or between rear lights
• In the case of red light offences, there must be two images; one where you enter the intersection against the red light and one where you are exiting the intersection.

Hopefully, this may help in keeping some of your hard-earned rands where it belongs. In YOUR pocket! Merry Xmas!