General Points (Insurance Cover, Labour Law, Implementation on our Roads)
There is so much to consider on this legislation of AARTO but I just want to make a few points:
- Insurance Cover
No vehicle or person without a valid drivers licence may drive on our roads. The same applies to a suspended licence under AARTO. If you do operate a vehicle under either of these circumstances it will be a criminal act and the insurance cover of the vehicle could be argued.
I will come down to insurance companies policy initially but under AARTO this could become a major problem to the vehicle owner. You could well have an accident and your insurance cover could be rejected due to a suspended licence of either vehicle or driver and you could end up with a large debt or loss.
- Labor Law
Every business will have to re-look at the employment conditions of employees who are employed with part of their duties that include driving.
If a person cannot fulfill their work duties under labor law you are entitled to terminate their services. This is how severe AARTO can impact business and we all need to begin to consider the full impact when in full operation.
- Implementing AARTO on our roads
There has been a lot to say by civic organizations such as AA and OUTA about the inability of our current government to implement this difficult system.
While they do acknowledge some value to the demerit system they also highlight the negatives of potential corruption, burden and cost to vehicle owners and business. Many of their concerns are valid but unfortunately they lost their case and AARTO is now unstoppable.
I think we need to distinguish between "fail" and not operational. OUTA says that AARTO will fail but what they are saying is it will fail to "curb road deaths" and they might well be right and for a long time. I do think in the long run drivers and operators will have to change their driving habits out of financial loss and burden and this may well help AARTO acheive it's goal.
What I can tell you is it will not fail to generate the money they hope it will. We are already seeing the effects filter through with enforcements on the licencing system.
It really comes down to IT and CODING. Each fine will carry a point value and every fine put into AARTO and eNATIS will record that point. Coding, maths and notifications will do the rest and you will have to pay or won't get licence discs for vehicles.
Manpower is certainly a problem at present for AARTO but apart from coding HARDWARE like speed cameras etc will be their first priority and these are already going up all over major metros.
There is no limit to the amount of cameras they can put up. For example you could ride 100 km's on a short road trip and there could be an average speed camera system every 10 km's. You could speed through all of them and you demerit points could be above 15 in one trip.
As stated at the outset this is an extensive topic and severe (probably even harsh) legislation. If my memory serves me correctly the act is well over 500 pages.
The time has come to take this seriously and to fail to plan for this will be a certain plan to fail. I put in a quote here from the latest press announcement by the minister of transport:
Deadline set for South Africa’s strict new driving rules:
Motorists can expect the full implementation of the Administrative Adjudication of Road Traffic Offences (AARTO) Act – which seeks to reduce the high rate of fatalities on the roads and improve driver behaviour – on 1 July 2024 nationwide.
Addressing a media briefing on Thursday in Johannesburg, Minister of Transport Sindisiwe Chikunga said 43 service outlets across various provinces have already been established.
“As we proceed with the national rollout of AARTO, we will proclaim implementation in 69 municipalities by the end of this calendar year, while AARTO will kick in in the remaining municipalities by 1 July 2024.
We are here to help. Contact us for more information or to set up a meeting. View our packages we offer. As mush as there will be glitches and delays in full implementation, AARTO will roll out and gather momentum and we all need to adjust accordingly.
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