CHAPTER 13:11
ROAD TRAFFIC ACT
Acts 48/1976, 37/1977 (s. 29), 41/1978 (s. 42), 24/1983, 31/1983, 4/1986, 8/1988 (s. 164), 18/1990, 11/1991, (s. 25), 20/1994 (s. 15)’ 9/1997(s. 10), 20/1999 (s. 39), 3/2000; 6/2001 (s. 69), 22/2001 (s. 4); S.I.s 205/2006, 176/2007, 124/2009.
AN ACT to provide for the licensing of drivers of motor vehicles; for the issue and recognition of international driving permits and foreign drivers licences; for compulsory insurance against third party risks arising out of the use of motor vehicles; for traffic signs and police directions; for the control of certain advertisements; for certain offences connected with road traffic; for prohibition from driving and endorsement of licences and for the powers and duties of various persons; and to provide for matters incidental to or connected with the foregoing.
[Date of commencement: Except section 76, 1st July, 1977; Section 76, 1st February, 1979.]
1. Short title and date of commencement
This Act may be cited as the Road Traffic Act [Chapter 13:11].
2. Interpretation
(1) In this Act:
“advertisement” includes any apparatus or structure erected or intended only for the display of advertisements, but does not include a traffic sign;
“appointed date” means the 1st July, 1977;
“articulated vehicle” means a motor vehicle with a trailer so attached to the motor vehicle that:
(a) part of the trailer is superimposed on the motor vehicle; and
(b) when the trailer is uniformly loaded, not less than twenty per centum of the mass of the load of the trailer is borne by the motor vehicle;
“axle load”, in relation to the axle of a vehicle, means the aggregate mass supported by the surface of the road or other base whereon the vehicle moves or rests measured at the point of contact between such surface and the several wheels attached to such axle;
“by-laws” means, save in subsection (8) of section eighty-one, by-laws made in terms of Part XVII of the Urban Councils Act [Chapter 29:15] or Part XI of the Rural District Councils Act [Chapter 29:13], as read with subsection (2) of section eighty-one;
“certificate of competency” means a certificate of competency issued in terms of paragraph (ii) of subsection (2) of section ten;
“certificate of insurance” means a certificate issued in terms of paragraph (b) of subsection (2) of section twenty-three;
“certificate of roadworthiness” means a certificate of roadworthiness issued by an inspecting officer in terms of subparagraph (i) of paragraph (b) of subsection (3) of section seventy-three;
“certificate of security” means a certificate given in terms of subsection (2) of section twenty-four;
“commuter omnibus” means a passenger public service vehicle which:
(a) has seating accommodation for more than seven passengers; and
(b) is used to provide a passenger transport service in accordance with a permit issued under:
(i) regulations made in terms of section 193 of the Urban Councils Act [Chapter 29:15]; or
(ii) Part V of the Road Motor Transportation Act [Chapter 13:10];
[Definition inserted by section 2 of Act 3 of 2000.]
“construction trailer” means any trailer:
(a) used in the construction or maintenance of boreholes, bridges, buildings, dams, electrical installations, roads, waterworks, wells and other civil engineering projects; and
(b) declared to be a construction trailer in terms of subsection (2);
“construction vehicle” means any motor vehicle:
(a) used in the construction or maintenance of civil engineering projects referred to in paragraph (a) of the definition of “construction trailer”; and
(b) declared to be a construction vehicle in terms of subsection (2);
“declared road” has the meaning given by section 3 of the Roads Act [Chapter 13:12];
“drive” includes cause or permit to be driven;
“driver” means the person having control of the steering apparatus of a vehicle and includes, in respect of:
(a) a motor cycle or pedal cycle, the rider thereof; and
(b) a trailer, the person driving the motor vehicle by which the trailer is being drawn; and
(c) an animal-drawn vehicle, the person in charge thereof;
“drivers licence” means a drivers licence issued in terms of subsection (6) of section ten, or subsection (1) of section fourteen;
“examiner” means an examiner appointed in terms of section seventy-nine;
“foreign drivers licence” means a licence bearing a photograph of the holder of the licence and endorsed with his signature and issued by the competent authority of any state, territory or province outside Zimbabwe for the purpose of enabling the holder of the licence to drive unaccompanied a motor vehicle on a road in such state, territory or province;
“goods” means goods, merchandise and wares of all kinds and includes livestock, sand, stone and water;
“gross mass” means the net mass of a motor vehicle or trailer, together with such mass of goods or passengers or both as the motor vehicle or trailer may be authorized in terms of this Act or any other enactment to carry or draw, as the case may be;
“heavy vehicle” means a motor vehicle exceeding two thousand three hundred kilograms net mass, but does not include a passenger motor vehicle having seating accommodation for less than eight passengers;
[Definition amended by section 2 of Act 3 of 2000.]
“inspecting officer” means an inspecting officer appointed in terms of paragraph (a) of subsection (1) of section eighty;
“internal licence” means a drivers licence, a learners licence, a tractor drivers permit or an international driving permit issued in terms of subsection (2) of section seventeen;
“international driving permit” means an international driving permit issued in terms of subsection (2) of section seventeen or referred to in subsection (1) of section eighteen;
“issuer of licences” means a registering officer appointed in terms of subsection (1) of section 4 of the Vehicle Registration and Licensing Act [Chapter 13:14];
“learners licence” means a learners licence issued in terms of subsection (3) of section nine;
“licence” means, save in section sixty-three, an internal licence or an international driving permit referred to in subsection (1) of section eighteen or a foreign drivers licence;
“light trailer” means a trailer fitted with pneumatic tyres, the factory rated load capacity of which does not exceed five hundred and fifty kilograms;
“local authority” means:
(a) a municipal council, town council or, subject to subsection (2), a rural district council; or
(b) a local board declared in terms of subsection (2) to be a local authority;
“Minister” means the Minister of Transport and Energy or any other Minister to whom the President may, from time to time, assign the administration of this Act;
“motor cycle” means a motor vehicle which:
(a) has fewer than four wheels; and
(b) is designed to be steered by means of handlebars;
“motor vehicle” means any vehicle propelled by electrical or mechanical power and adapted or intended for use or capable of being used on roads, but does not include:
(a) a vehicle running on rails or a vehicle which, though not running on rails:
(i) is the property of a local authority or is run under statutory authority; and
(ii) is adapted or intended for use on roads without rails and either derives motive power from an overhead wire or is moved by power transmitted thereto from some external source; or
(b) a vehicle specially designed and constructed, as opposed to being merely adapted, for the use of persons suffering from some physical defect or disability and used solely by such persons; or
(c) a vehicle which is:
(i) controlled by a pedestrian; and
(ii) not capable of being used or adapted for use otherwise than under the control of a pedestrian; or
(d) any vehicle, other than a vehicle referred to in paragraph (a), (b) or (c), declared not to be a motor vehicle in terms of subsection (2);
“net mass”, in relation to a motor vehicle or trailer, means the mass of the motor vehicle or trailer ready to travel on a road and includes the mass of:
(a) any spare wheel and of all other accessories and equipment supplied by the manufacturer of the motor vehicle or trailer as standard accessories or equipment for the particular model of motor vehicle or trailer concerned; and
(b) anything which is:
(i) a permanent part of the structure of the motor vehicle or trailer; or
(ii) affixed to the motor vehicle or trailer so as to form a structural alteration of a permanent nature; and
(c) in the case of a motor vehicle propelled by:
(i) electrical power, the accumulators and water of such motor vehicle; and
(ii) mechanical power, all water carried in the radiator of such motor vehicle, but does not include the mass of fuel required for the propulsion thereof;
“omnibus” means a heavy vehicle having:
(a) a net mass exceeding two thousand three hundred kilograms; and
(b) seating accommodation for seven or more passengers;
[Definition amended by section 2 of Act 3 of 2000.]
“owner”, in relation to a vehicle, means:
(a) the owner, joint owner or part owner of the vehicle: and
(b) any person who has the lawful use of the vehicle or who controls its use; and
[Paragraph amended by section 2 of Act 3 of 2000.]
(c) in the case of a vehicle delivered under a hire-purchase or other agreement by virtue of which the property in such vehicle passes to the transferee only on the fulfilment of a suspensive condition, the transferee from and after the date of such delivery;
“parking” means the standing or waiting in any public place of any vehicle not actually engaged in setting down or taking up goods or passengers or both;
“parking place” means a place where all vehicles generally or vehicles of any particular class or description may park;
“passenger” does not include the driver of a vehicle;
“passenger public service vehicle” means a public service vehicle which is used to operate a passenger transport service as defined in the Road Motor Transportation Act [Chapter 13:15];
[Definition substituted by section 2 of Act 3 of 2000.]
“place”, when used as a verb in relation to a traffic sign, includes erect or mark;
“pneumatic tyre” means a tyre composed of flexible material and, when in use, kept inflated at an air pressure greater than atmospheric pressure;
“portion”, when used in relation to a road, includes any cycle track, lane or other portion of the width of a road;
“private road” means any road:
(a) for the maintenance of which neither the State nor a local authority has assumed responsibility; and
(b) which is not commonly used by the public or any section thereof;
and excludes a declared road;
“prohibit from driving” means prohibit from driving a motor vehicle on a road;
“public service vehicle” means a motor vehicle in respect of whose operation an operator’s licence is required in terms of the Road Motor Transportation Act [Chapter 13:15];
[Definition inserted by section 2 of Act 3 of 2000.]
“Registrar” means the Registrar of Road Traffic Licences referred to in subsection (1) of section four;
“regulations” means regulations made in terms of subsection (2) of section eighty-one;
“resolution” means a resolution passed in terms of subsection (3) of section eighty-two;
“road” means any highway, street or other road to which the public or any section thereof has access and includes:
(a) any bridge, ferry or pontoon over which a road passes; and
(b) any drift in the line of a road; and
(c) any approach, culvert, cutting, dam, ditch, drain, embankment, fence, grid, guard, kerb, parapet, subway or other work or thing belonging to or connected with or forming part of a road; and
(d) any public place; and
(e) for the purposes of sections fifty-one to fifty-five, sixty-four, seventy, seventy-six and seventy-seven, any private car park or private road;
“road authority” bears the meaning assigned to that term in section 2 of the Roads Act [Chapter 13:18];
[Definition inserted by section 69 of Act 6 of 2001.]
“State road” means a road for the maintenance of which the Minister has assumed responsibility;
“statutory policy” means a policy of insurance referred to in subsection (1) of section twenty-two;
“statutory security” means a security referred to in subsection (1) of section twenty-two;
“taxi-cab” means a motor vehicle which has seating accommodation for not more than seven passengers and which is used to carry passengers for hire or reward;
[Definition inserted by section 2 of Act 3 of 2000.]
“this Act” includes any resolution;
“tractor” means a motor vehicle, other than a motor vehicle designed to form part of an articulated vehicle, which is used for the purpose of drawing one or more trailers but which is not itself designed to carry any load;
“tractor drivers permit” means a tractor drivers permit or a duplicate tractor drivers permit issued in terms of subsection (5) of section eight;
“traffic sign” includes any direction post, line, instruction. sign, signal, signpost, warning or other device or mark for the direction or guidance of persons using roads;
“trailer” means a vehicle which:
(a) has no independent motive power of its own; and
(b) is adapted or constructed to be attached to and drawn by a motor vehicle;
but does not include a side-car attached to a motor cycle or such other vehicle as may be declared not to be a trailer in terms of subsection (2);
“urban area under the jurisdiction of a local authority” means:
(a) in the case of a municipal council, the municipal area concerned;
(b) in the case of a town council, the town area concerned;
(c) subject to subsection (2), in the case of a rural district council, any town ward of the council, and any area declared to be a specified area in terms of the Rural District Councils Act [Chapter 29:13];
(d) in the case of a local board, the area specified in terms of subsection (2) in respect thereof;
and includes the area of any local government area administered and controlled by any such local authority and “urban area under its jurisdiction” shall be construed accordingly;
“use” includes cause or permit to be used.
(2) The Minister may, by statutory notice, declare:
(a) a local board to be a local authority and specify the area which shall be the urban area under the jurisdiction of the local board:
Provided that he shall not make any such declaration or specification without the approval of the Minister responsible for the administration of the Urban Councils Act [Chapter 29:15];
(b) that a rural district council shall be a local authority for the purposes of this Act in respect of any greater or lesser area than the council area for which it was established:
Provided that he shall not make any such declaration without the approval of the Minister responsible for the administration of the Rural District Councils Act [Chapter 29:13];
(c) a trailer belonging to a particular class to be a construction trailer;
(d) a motor vehicle belonging to a particular class to be a construction vehicle;
(e) a vehicle belonging to a particular class, other than a vehicle referred to in paragraph (a), (b) or (c) of the definition of “motor vehicle” in subsection (1), not to be a motor vehicle;
(f) a vehicle belonging to a particular class, other than a side-car attached to a motor cycle, not to be a trailer;
for the purposes of this Act.
3. Application of this Act and certain by-laws to persons and vehicles in service of State
(1) Subject to subsection (2), this Act and of any by-law made for the purpose of:
(a) the control or regulation of traffic; or
(b) the parking of vehicles; or
(c) ensuring the public safety;
shall apply to persons and vehicles in the service of the State in their capacity as such.
(2) This Act or any by-law which:
(a) forbids a person to drive a motor vehicle on a road unless he is the holder of a licence; or
(b) regulates the number of trailers which may be drawn by a motor vehicle; or
(c) imposes a speed limit in respect of motor vehicles;
shall not apply in the case of motor vehicles owned by the State and used for:
(i) the purposes of the Defence Forces or police purposes; or
(ii) enforcing the provisions of this Act or of any such by-law;
or in the case of motor vehicles so used while being driven by any person for the time being subject to the lawful orders of any member of the Defence Forces or any police officer.