South Africa’s Road Traffic Infringement Agency (RTIA) has issued an update in preparation for the national implementation of the Administrative Adjudication of Road Traffic Offences (AARTO) Act and point demerit system.
The Agency reiterates that the date of rollout is set to be during the course of 2016/17 financial year, on a date to be announced by the Minister of Transport.
Currently, the AARTO Amendment Bill is undergoing legislative scrutiny in Parliament as part of the legislative amendment and development process.
The AARTO Act exists to:
- Influence voluntary compliance with traffic laws and penalise and rehabilitate infringing behaviour.
- Encourage improved driver behaviour and combat delinquency on South Africa’s roads.
- Enhance motorists’ understanding of their rights and responsibilities under the administrative adjudication legislative environment for management of traffic offenses.
The RTIA urges motorists and road users to join the discourse in search of new efficiencies, sharing best practices and harness proactive management of related risk and challenges before the rollout.
The “Sihamba ne AARTO” roadshows and the AARTO Round Table Dialogues have seen the Agency visiting seven provinces so far where they have indicated their readiness to implement the system. These roadshows include engaging stakeholders and re-training traffic officers.
The “Know your traffic fine” status campaign is designed to reach road users and remind them of the options they have under the AARTO Act which are:
- Make a representation to dispute a traffic fine
- Nominate a driver
- Apply for revocation of an enforcement order
- Arrange to pay for infringements in instalments or
- Nominate to be tried in court
Visit the Road Traffic Infringement Agency website for further details.
