Driving alone at night after a long day thinking about the comfort of your own couch, watching a recorded episode of your favorite series, locked in and out of harm’s way… you look down at the speedometer counting down the seconds, looking back up into the darkness with only your headlights giving you a hint of comfort, when suddenly a blue light catches the corner of your eye, with chills running down your spine, your eyes drop down to the speedo, with confusion and panic you start thinking “what should I do”.

What can you do, what is the right thing to do, what will happen if you do it?

With this in mind, the Road Traffic Management Corporation and Justice Project south Africa developed a protocol in 2013 called “the blue light protocol”. Many of us are aware of this protocol or has heard of it, in short it basically allows a driver that feels unsafe to pull over, to drive to the nearest police station or public place with CCTV cameras installed, but this has changed…

In a Media statement released on 6 December 2019 by the JPSA (justice Project South Africa) they stated that :

Although they are aware of the “Blue Light Gangs” and violent acts caused by criminals disguised as police officers, they are withdrawing the endorsement of the Blue Light Protocol, because this protocol contributes to the abuse of “overzealous law enforcement officers”, said The chair, Howard Dembovsky.

Howard Dembovsky, stated  further that if a driver is pulled over by an officer in uniform and fails to stop, it is considered a criminal offense. With this said he gives an alternative solution:

“If a motorist feels unsafe, he or she should immediately call 10111 to verify the authenticity of the police stopping them and prepare to flee if anything goes wrong”.

With that being said, it is my opinion that the new alternative solution is not in the best interest of drivers and citizens of this country. Firstly all law enforcement officials should be aware of the protocol in place, there is no reason, if a driver follows this protocol for them to get aggressive and arrogant, they are empowered to protect civilians not abuse and overpower them. Secondly according to the new protocol you should slow down, pull over and verify whether the police is actually legit, then prepare to flee which doesn’t seem like the safest thing to do.

The article did mention that the JPSA is busy with an improved protocol that will be released soon, but until then, stay out of the dark.