BUDGET FOR NEW TRIANGLES

A NUMBER of developments have being taking place around the introduction of a new warning triangle. Once regulated, all vehicles will have to carry the newly specified warning triangle. The existing National Regulation 214(1) excludes motor cars, motor cycles and ambulances from the need to carry triangles.

It also appears that the Southern African Customs Union (SACU) has decided to recommend that member countries introduce legislation requiring all vehicles to carry triangles. The Southern African Development Community (SADC) is considering a similar recommendation.

The background to this is that in September 2001, the Working Group of the Vehicle Technical Committee (VTC) agreed that in future, the triangles be required to comply with the European Standard which is covered by SABS ECE R27. At present, the triangles have to comply with SABS 1329, which is a local specification. At a meeting on November 21, 2001, the same working group agreed to accept the proposal that all vehicles carry a warning triangle.

This will obviously require a phasing-in period and to establish such a period, the VTC is to investigate the availability and cost of the triangles and report back. Recent indications are that it will be recommended that one triangle be carried on each single vehicle and two triangles on a combination of motor vehicles.

Final approval will then be recommended to the C.O.T.O. (Committee of Transport Officials) and Mincom (Ministerial Committee) that the proposal be published by the NDoT for comment - and possible introduction into the Road Traffic Regulations.

Following closely
One man who has been following this closely with the intention of providing the market with exactly the right product is Ian Mackenzie of Johannesburg-based DCL Auto Accessories.

While he originally looked at local manufacture of the triangles, this will prove financially unfeasible. "If the material for the lens was locally available - which it is not - we would require 20 to 30 moulds at R500 000 each to produce the volumes required. In fact, we costed the entire plant which would be needed at around R5-million" he says.

He has, however, linked up with a German supplier and has negotiated sole agency for the southern African region. Interesting is that the German company manufactures the triangles in a factory in Slovakia.

Mackenzie reckons the triangles should retail at around R69 per unit but this will depend on the exchange rates at the time. "I've built in a mechanism to take into account exchange rate fluctuations but obviously this is out of our control. We do have stock on hand now however."

The longer it drags on, the more susceptible we become to price variances. Mr Regulator you're going to do it, so let's get on with it and do it.