AARTO or AARNOTO!
With the new Administrative Adjudication of Road Traffic Offences (Aarto) bill signed into law recently by our President, we all wait with baited breath to see if it will work or become just another money making scheme allowing incompetent drivers to keep getting away with breaking the law or a method to force e-toll payments.
All drivers will begin with 0 points and will then accumulate up to 12 points, thereafter a 3 month ban on your drivers license will be received for each point over 12. Law abiding drivers can expect to have 1 point taken away after three months of driving without committing new infringements.
At the end of the day, our government is trying to minimize the carnage on our roads, is this the right way to proceed?
Here is a breakdown of what infringements will bring your way in the means of a fine and demerit points:
| Infringement | Fine Amount | Demerit Points |
|---|---|---|
| LICENCES & OTHER | ||
| Driving an unregistered vehicle | R500.00 | 1 |
| Driving an unlicenced vehicle | R500.00 | 1 |
| Driving a vehicle with licence plate not visible | R500.00 | 1 |
| Driving without a driving licence | R1250.00 | 4 |
| Driving without a seat belt | R250.00 | 0 |
| Driving under influence of intoxicating substance | Determined by court | 6 |
| Driving while holding and using a mobile device | R500.00 | 1 |
| FAILING TO STOP | ||
| Skipping a stop sign (light vehicles) | R500.00 | 1 |
| Skipping a stop sign (buses, taxis, trucks) | R750.00 | 2 |
| Skipping a red light (light vehicles) | R500.00 | 1 |
| Skipping a red light (buses, taxis, trucks) | R750.00 | 2 |
| Failing to yield to a pedestrian | R500.00 | 1 |
| OVERTAKING & OVERLOADING | ||
| Overtaking across barrier line (light vehicles) | R500.00 | 1 |
| Overtaking across barrier line (buses, taxis, trucks) | R750.00 | 2 |
| Overloading a vehicle with max 56,000kg combination mass by 12-13.99% | R1500.00 | 5 |
| SPEEDING | ||
| 81-85km/h in a 60km/h zone | R750.00 | 2 |
| 100km/h+ in a 60km/h zone | Determined by court | 6 |
| 106-110km/h in an 80km/h zone | R1000.00 | 3 |
| 120km/h+ in an 80km/h zone | Determined by court | 6 |
| 121-125km/h in a 100km/h zone | R750.00 | 2 |
| 131-135km/h in a 100km/h zone | R1250.00 | 4 |
| 140km/h+ in a 100km/h zone | Determined by court | 6 |
| 131-135km/h in a 120km/h zone | R250.00 | 0 |
| 141-145km/h in a 120km/h zone | R750.00 | 2 |
| 151-155km/h in a 120km/h zone | R1250.00 | 4 |
| 160km/h+ in a 120km/h zone | Determined by court | 6 |
Insurance companies will also need to amend their risk analysis on clients, a clean driver with no points on his/her license would be less of a risk to insure than a driver who has had their license suspended, this will heavily effect insurance premiums for repeat offenders.
Lets not start on the Taxis in South Africa, how long do you think it will take for such offenders to lose their licenses?
And once revoked, how stable will the system be to monitor such offenders and make sure they do not get behind the wheel again?
We have so many questions, we would love to hear the public's opinion on the AARTO bill, do you think it will work or not?