The Tshwane Metro Police Department is ready for the implementation of the Administrative Adjudication of Road Traffic Offences, expected to begin on April 1.
Some people are arguing that the Aarto Act and the technology it uses are “flawed”, but it seems this will not will derail the plans.
The system includes a demerit system in which points are deducted from driving licences.
TMPD spokesman Console Tleane said the department had been notified by the national department of transport that Aarto would be rolled out across the country from April 1.
“The TMPD has been implementing Aarto since the system was introduced,” he said. “We introduced it from the first day of the incorporation of the erstwhile Metsweding District Municipality on May 19 last year.
“Traffic officers in the former municipality, who have since been incorporated into the TMPD, were taught how to issue Aarto fines and have been doing so ever since.”
Tleane said that for the TMPD, the national rollout would simply mean a continuation of what they had been doing since the system was introduced. Official implementation would not require any systemic changes but the department expected that more motorists would begin paying their fines.
“We are ready as we have long established our system. The only thing that has changed is that the infringement regime has been made effective, by the national department, from Monday last week.
“This means motorists will from now on have to pay their fines which were issued during the pilot period, or they will face the penalty of having their driving and vehicle licence renewal applications declined.
“This means our licensing officers will no longer renew driving or vehicle licences of motorists found to have outstanding fines. The system will automatically 'kick out' such renewal applications.”
Road Traffic Management Corporation spokesman Ashref Ismail says the system is not all gloom and doom. Although points will be deducted from drivers found to be breaking the laws, there will be rewards for good behaviour.
For every three months a driver is not issued with a fine, he or she will accumulate a point that will be added to their licence.
“This is a fair system which gives you credit for good behaviour and punishes you for misbehaving.”
Ismail said Aarto was not about generating funds but about safety on the roads. Practices in other parts of the world had shown that such systems had been successful in reducing road fatalities and offences. “This is critical for us,” Ismail said.
The system would also ease court backlogs as drivers found to be in the wrong would be dealt with outside the courtroom. However, some cases would be heard in court.
“We're trying to decriminalise road infringements. We don't want courts to be clogged up with more than 30 cases of road offenders waiting to be tried.”
Offences that warranted arrest, such as driving unroadworthy vehicles or while drunk, would be dealt with under the criminal act and offenders would appear in court.
Ismail said transport minister Sibusiso Ndebele would announce the date of implementation later.
An Aarto summit would be held next month or in March to inform transport role-players about the department's readiness to implement the legislation.
Since its introduction in 2009, the law had been amended in response to problems identified during pilot phases in Pretoria and Johannesburg.
Ismail said: “We identified certain loopholes and we amended them. We were also able to identify what needed to be improved in the paperwork used with the system and we ironed this out.” Pretoria News
PENALTIES
Failure to license a vehicle - R500 + 1 point
Operating a specially classified car other than the licence stipulates - R500 + 1 point
Car with no number plates - Not yet established
Vehicle with only one number plate - R500 + 1 point
Spinning wheels on a public road - R1000 + 3 points
Failure to stop at an accident scene - Not yet established
Driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs - Not yet established
Driving at a speed of 86-90km/h in a 60km/h zone - R1000 + 3 points
Driving at a speed of 156-160km/h in a 120km/h zone - R1500 + 5 points