Traffic demerit system might face some challenges during the rollout
The AARTO Act is set to roll out across the country on 1 December 2025, but how effective will this be?
The Administrative Adjudication of Road Traffic Offences (Aarto) Act, which will be implemented nationwide on 1 December 2025, may be too good to be true.
Or so says the Organisation Undoing Tax Abuse (Outa), which shared the noticeable pitfalls in the initial rollout in Johannesburg and Pretoria.
The demerit system has been hailed as the solution to combating bad drivers or, at the very least, holding them accountable for their actions. However, Outa noted that it might become a costly and ineffective method of curbing bad drivers.
The system allocates penalty points to a person's driver's licence for several driving offences. The points work on the severity of the offence, so for instance if a driver accumulates 15 points, then their licence will be suspended for three months per point over the 15 points.
"The points expire three months after they are received, meaning a person would need to commit several offences in a relatively short period to lose their licence," reports Top Auto.
Of course, the demerit system aims to encourage better (law-abiding) driving on our South African roads. However, could this method be the wrong approach in achieving the goal?
Earlier rollouts of the AARTO Act saw law enforcement run short of funds to execute the system effectively. Drivers can receive their infringements in person or via registered post. It seems useless since they ran short of funds to send the notices via registered post.
According to Top Auto, Outa executive director Advocate Stefanie Fick shared "that if authorities don’t follow the prescribed procedure, which requires them to send an infringement notice and a courtesy letter within 32 days, they cannot enforce the act."
Fick believes that the demerit system will cause more issues than alleviate them. For instance, fleet operators will face problems as drivers and vehicles accumulate points. This may lead to an operational issue when your drivers and vehicles cannot lawfully be on the roads.
What about the drivers who are facing cloned vehicle registrations? This may put vehicle owners into more trouble, as they may face more risks because their vehicles were cloned.
While the AARTO Act has been deemed constitutional, some question whether it will cause more harm.
Check out the table below that shows the demerit amounts for common traffic offences in South Africa, courtesy of Top Auto.
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