Since 1994 BMA Marketing has been interacting with Government and the NDOT at ministerial level as well as the SABS to convince them of the advantages of fitting safety bands to certain categories of vehicles.  Minister Dullah Omar’s Strategy 2000 document was the first official announcement of their intention to investigate wheel safety devices.

On two occasions live demonstrations to members of the Portfolio Committee on Transport were conducted in Cape Town. The response to these demonstrations was extremely positive, supporting the Minister’s intention to make the fitting of safety bands compulsory. Over the last 8 years more than one hundred live demonstrations have been made to various stakeholders such as the SANDF, SAPS, Provincial Government MEC’s, the Road Accident Fund and private sector operators such as Unitrans and Tanker Services, PUTCO and many taxi operators and organizations. 

Regulation 212 of the 8th Amendment to the National Road Traffic Regulations gazetted on the 2nd September 2005 states that:

“All minibuses, midi buses and buses operating in terms of an operating licence issued in accordance with the NLTTA, shall be fitted with an anti- burst stabilizer device.” 

Enforcement

As a result of the regulations and the need to enforce them, the second major development in the safety band industry has been the introduction of a radio frequency identification device to monitor the presence of a safety band on the wheel rim without having to remove the tyre.
Together with Dr. Bruce Finnemore the inventor and owner of BandScan, BMA marketing and Tyrelok has, over the last 4 years developed and tested this RFID. A presentation to the nine Provincial heads of traffic law enforcement was made at a conference held in Bela Bela on the 9th June 2006.  With this technology now available, the delegates are confident that enforcement is now possible and can be undertaken at both testing stations and at the road side.

 

The Government Gazette
National Road Traffic Act, 1996 (Act no. 93 of 1996)
Amendment of National Road Traffic Regulations No. 871
4 September 2006

The 8th Amendment has been updated to include the definition and rewording of regulation 212.
Definition – Regulation 1 is amended:
(a) “anti-burst stabilizer device” means any device fitted for the purposes of ensuring that the tyre does not detach from the rim or preventing the tyre from bursting.

Regulation 212 of Regulations now reads:
o) A minibus, midibus or bus, operating in terms of an operating licence issued in accordance with the provisions of the NLTTA unless the steering wheels of such minibus, midibus or bus are fitted with an anti-burst stabilizer device.

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