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22 October 2019

North West Department of Community Safety And Transport Management Explains, AARTO, The New Traffic Law, Is Set To Change Driver Behaviour

The Administrative Adjudication of Road Traffic Offences (AARTO), which is more commonly known as the ‘point demerit system’, will be fully implemented with effect from, 2020. The Road Traffic Infringement Authority (RTIA) is responsible for this implementation. The RTIA is a State Owned Enterprise which is entirely funded through collection of traffic fines. A trial-test of the system was conducted on the streets of Tshwane and Johannesburg and the Minister of Transport will soon set the date for the system to be implemented nationally.

The ‘demerit system’ aims to improve road safety by changing the behaviour of motorists in South Africa. This change is needed to ensure that drivers fear the consequences of breaking the law enough to promote safer driving. With the AARTO, ignoring penalties can lead to motorist’s licenses being blocked on the system.
Drivers start with no points on their license. When they are pinged breaking traffic laws, they are awarded points based on the severity of the traffic offence. Only motorists with a maximum of 12 points will be allowed to drive on our road. Every point over that limit (i.e. 13 demerit points and above) will prompt their license to be suspended for three months. If a motorist’s license is suspended three times it will be cancelled. For every three-month period where the driver doesn’t accumulate any demerit points, one point will be deducted from their total number of demerits.
Motorists will be notified via electronic or written means when they have incurred a fine, and will have 32 days to pay the fine and receive a 50% deduction. Drivers who wish to dispute their fines will no longer be able to take their case to court; instead, they will have to submit written representations to the traffic department as to why the fine is incorrect together with an as-yet-undetermined fee. The motorists will be penalised additional R200 if their representations are unsuccessful due to a lack of substance.

Driving a motor vehicle with a license that has been suspended may incur a criminal penalty which may result in a year-long jail-time. Individuals who own cars that are driven by others: these include those individuals who are proxies for juristic entities like businesses or companies, or owners of multiple vehicles and parents in whose name a child’s car is registered, will, unfortunately find themselves hit with demerit points in a short period of time.

Each offence will earn drivers a different number of demerits depending on the severity of the offence. For less serious offences, up to 2 demerit points will be awarded. These include failing to obey a road sign, for example failing to stop at a stop sign. Offences which are more serious can earn the driver up to 4 demerit points. These include offences related to driving license offences, like driving with an expired license. Serious offences can earn a driver up to 6 demerit points. These offences include driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs, or excessive speeding (driving 120 km/h in an 80 km/h zone).

#DriveSafe #ArriveAlive #PayTrafficFines #BeResponsibleDriver #ChangeBadDrivingBehaviour

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