AARTO: They are (adjacent to) the law!

For several years now, South African motorists and drivers licence holders have heard rumours and whispers of a new point-and-demerit system that’s set to clear up the court-bound traffic offense clutter and streamline the system of administering the National Road Traffic Act on South Africa’s generally quite bloody roads.

Well folks, the system has a name: Administrative Ajudication of Road Traffic Offences, or AARTO, and it’s been around on paper since 1998, and although it has yet to be rolled out countrywide, it is coming. Quite when is up to the Minister of Transport, Sibusiso Ndebele.

So it’s the responsibility of every road user to familiarise themselves with the fairly fundamental change that AARTO will wreak on traffic offence management in South Africa when (inevitably) it’s rolled out nationwide.

Now you could direct your attention to the official AARTO site, administered by the Road Traffic Management Corporation (RTMC), but as with most bureaucratically administered sites, it’s generally on the wrong side of helpful.

What we recommend is spending some time on this site, AARTO Facts, which is administered by non-profit organisation, the Justice Project South Africa (JPSA).

It provides an exhaustively comprehensive explanation of the various facets of the new system, as well as alerts to specific issues motorists need to look out for. They also offer services related to the future implementation of AARTO (it’s basically been piloted in two municipalities in Gauteng to date, awaiting final roll-out by the Minister of Transport). It’s a lot to read, but its well organised and certainly a far sight better than the official facility.

In the words of the Justice Project South Africa from AARTO Facts:

AARTO is an acronym for the“Administrative Adjudication of Road Traffic Offences”. Quite a mouthful, isn’t it?

Fines for less serious traffic offences are migrated from criminal offences to civil proceedings. Think that’s good news? Think again!

Demerit points are earned on your driving licence and when you exceed 12 your license is suspended for 3 months. Three suspensions and your driving licence is revoked.

Ignore your fines and you could lose your posessions and your driving licence.

Remember: This system is not in effect yet. It awaits an official order by the Minister of Transport to be implemented nationwide by the RTMC. As is always the case, there are emails and assorted characters online and at large touting “fine toolkits” and warnings about the “penalties” that can “currently” be incurred by the system. Not true!

Check the facts, and spend some time reading the information. The AARTO Facts site has several useful sections, such as “AARTO Explained”, “AARTO Quick Facts”, “AARTO Charges and Fines” and a “Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)” section. The JPSA is not for profit, the site is regularly updated (unlike the official RTMC site), and although there is a lot of information, it is all efficiently presented.

That’s about it. When AARTO is rolled out, you can be sure the media will make a meal of it – it’s a confusing and sometimes contradictory system. Here’s your chance to get the facts before the system gets you. Use it.

[Source: AARTO Facts]