Drunk driver stopped on N2 after saying he was ‘going back to hotel for KFC’

A motorist was arrested on the N2 after Road Traffic Inspectorate (RTI) officers found him weaving between lanes and driving the wrong way for about 80 kilometres.

How officers stopped him

The KwaZulu-Natal Department of Transport said members of the RTI from Park Rynie intercepted the driver at about 8:30 am on Thursday after observing him dangerously weaving between lanes.

What the driver told officers

Officials said the man, who is from Limpopo and works as a rigger at a mine, told RTI he had left his hotel in Umhlanga to buy KFC and was “on his way back to his room to sleep.” When officers told him he was travelling south toward Port Shepstone, he continued to insist he was driving north.

“Despite RTI informing him that he was driving in a southerly direction, he insisted that he was driving north. In fact, he was 80 kilometres away from Umhlanga and heading toward Port Shepstone,” the department said.

Risk and expected legal outcome

RTI officers said the driver was struggling to stay in his lane and posed a danger to other road users. The department stated the intervention may have prevented a serious crash.

“Had RTI failed to remove him from the road, his erratic driving would have resulted in a head-on collision, a rear-end crash, or a sideswipe with the [potential] loss of innocent lives.”

The department also warned that alcohol-related crashes continue to claim lives on KZN roads and said it has previously “witnessed eight to ten family members being wiped out in horrific road accidents along the N2” caused by motorists driving under the influence of alcohol.

The motorist is expected to appear in the Scottburgh Magistrate’s Court.