On 1 July, the Administrative Adjudication of Road Traffic Offences Act (AARTO) came into effect across South Africa after being piloted in Johannesburg and Tshwane in 2008. The Road Traffic Infringement Agency (RTIA) was established in 2007 to administer the AARTO system. The Act aims to make roads safer through:
- decriminalising most traffic offences and making them administrative infringements; and
- introducing a points demerit system for drivers, holders of professional driving permits (PrDPs), fleet operators, and juristic entities* that own vehicles. Although AARTO is now in effect, its implementation will take place in stages and the points demerit system is scheduled to only come into effect on 1 July 2022.
AARTO only applies to traffic offences where an alleged offender has the option of paying a fine (these are called “administrative infringements”). Drivers accused of serious road traffic offences like driving under the influence and reckless or negligent driving will still be prosecuted in terms of the Criminal Procedure Act. Once the points demerit system has been brought into effect, every driving licence, PrDP, operator card or juristic entity’s vehicle licence disc will start with zero demerit points. When a traffic infringement or offence is alleged to have been committed, that driving licence, PrDP, operator card or juristic entity’s vehicle licence stands to accumulate the applicable number of demerit points. Traffic infringements carry up to 5 demerit points, although some carry none. Serious traffic offences like driving under the influence carry 6 demerit points.
If a driver or PrDP holder accumulates more than 15 demerit points, he or she will be disqualified from driving for a certain period time (3 months for every point exceeding 15 points).
Such drivers must hand in their driving licence cards and PrDPs for the duration of the disqualification period and may not apply for new ones in that time. If a driver or PrDP holder is disqualified for a third time, that person’s driving licence and PrDP will be cancelled and he or she will have to go through the standard process of obtaining a new licence and PrDP.
If a fleet operator’s vehicle accumulates more than 15 demerit points, the licence disc for that vehicle will be suspended for a certain period of time (3 months for every point exceeding 15 points).
Such operators must hand in the operator card for that vehicle for the duration of the disqualification period. If a juristic entity that owns a vehicle is notified of an alleged traffic infringement or offence committed in that vehicle, it must identify the person who was driving at the time. If it fails to do so, it stands to accumulate demerit points against its vehicle licence.
AARTO provides for the issuing of documents in person, by post, or by electronic means such as email. If documents are not issued in person, they are presumed to have been received 10 days after they were sent. There are three escalating stages in the process:
- an infringement notice;
- a courtesy letter; and
- an enforcement order. When an enforcement order is issued, the applicable demerit points are applied to the person’s driving licence (natural persons) or vehicle licence disc (juristic persons). Such an order also blocks all licensing transactions, for example, issuing or renewing driving licences, operator cards or PrDPs, and issuing and renewing vehicle licence discs.
* Companies and government departments are just two examples of juristic entities that can own vehicles.