Introduction
After approximately a decade of waiting, the Administrative Adjudication of Road Traffic Offences Amendment Bill (“AARTO Bill”) is on the cusp of coming into operation in South Africa. The AARTO Bill has already been passed by Parliament and is waiting to be signed into law by President Cyril Ramaphosa. Once operational, the AARTO Bill will impact South African drivers in a number of different ways, one of the most drastic being the introduction of the demerits system. The goal of this system is to “identify, rehabilitate and ultimately eliminate” habitual offenders on South African roads.
How will the demerits system operate?
The basic principle behind the demerits system is that traffic offenders will not only be liable to pay a fine for the traffic offence committed, but will also accumulate penalty points. Upon the implementation of the demerits system, each driver will commence with a score of zero. As traffic offences are committed the driver accumulates points. A driver can accumulate a maximum of 12 points, after which his or her licence will be suspended for three months and after three suspensions the driver permanently loses his or her licence.
Different traffic infringements have different demerit points allocated to them. To name but a few, driving without a driving licence renders the offender liable to pay a fine of R1250,00 and will add 4 demerit points to the driver’s record; driving while using (or holding) a cell phone carries a penalty of R500,00 and contributes 1 demerit point to the driver’s record; and driving between 81km/h and 85km/h in a 60km/h zone will result in the driver having to pay a R750,00 fine and accumulating 2 demerit points.
The crux of the matter is therefore that after 12 strikes coupled with 3 suspensions the driver’s licence will be permanently terminated.
Will it work?
The chairperson of Justice Project South Africa, Howard Dembovsky, has remarked that the piece of legislation is a “sophisticated and unforgiving administrative mechanism”. This view is shared by a variety of other establishments and authorities who believe that the demerit system will drastically change drivers’ behaviour on South African roads. Needless to say that the main challenge as to the effectiveness of the demerits system is the enforcement thereof. Visible policing will be a necessity regarding whether the AARTO Bill will in fact have any impact on the number of accidents and deaths occurring on South African roads, without which the AARTO Bill will be rendered useless.
Other changes brought about by the AARTO Bill
Other than the introduction of the demerits system, a failure to pay traffic fines can lead to a block on obtaining driving and vehicle licences. This means that until an offender has paid their traffic fines, they will not be able to renew their driving or vehicle licence. Once more, whether this measure will have any effect ultimately boils down to whether the officials at traffic departments throughout the country are strict in enforcing this provision.
The Bill also introduces a new Appeals Tribunal which will preside over matters arising under the Bill. What is more, where documents always had to be delivered by registered mail, the authorities are now authorised to serve documents electronically and send reminders via WhatsApp and SMS.
Conclusion
Although the majority of South Africans were under the impression that the demerits system was merely spoken of to instil fear into delinquent South African drivers, it is now close to becoming operational. However, only time will tell whether the new legislation will succeed in banishing rogue drivers from South African roads and thereby fulfil its purpose.