Free State MEC for the Department of Police, Roads and Transport, Sam Mashinini, has welcomed the signing of the Administrative Adjudication of Road Traffic Offences (AARTO) Amendment Bill into law by President Cyril Ramaphosa.
South Africa experiences an average of about 14 000 deaths per annum, which translates to about 38 people a day, who lose their lives on South Africa’s roads. “This situation cannot be allowed to continue as the country is a signatory to the United Nations Decade of Actions for Road Safety 2011 to 2020, and we are expected to reduce road carnages by 50% during this period,” said Mashinini.
The AARTO act will be implemented once it has been published in the Government Gazette, and is expected to help improve fine collection procedures and revenue stream that will be used for improving road safety.
The Act will bring into operation new provisions of traffic law such as the addition of the electronic serving of infringement documents setting up of points, demerit system and creation of rehabilitation centres for habitual infringers.
Points and fines may change as the system prepares for a national roll-out, the tables below give an overview of how the points may be allocated as currently set out by the Road Traffic Infringement Agency (RTIA):
| Infringement | Fine amount | Demerit points |
| Licences and miscellaneous | ||
| Driving an unregistered vehicle | R500 | 1 |
| Driving an unlicensed vehicle | R500 | 1 |
| Driving a vehicle with licence plate not visible | R500 | 1 |
| Driving without a driving licence | R1 250 | 4 |
| Driving without a seat belt | R250 | 0 |
| Driving under influence of intoxicating substance | Determined by court | 6 |
| Driving while holding and using a cell phone | R500 | 1 |
| Failing to stop | ||
| Skipping a stop sign (light vehicles) | R500 | 1 |
| Skipping a stop sign (buses, trucks) | R750 | 2 |
| Skipping a red light (light vehicles) | R500 | 1 |
| Skipping a red light (buses, trucks) | R750 | 2 |
| Failing to yield to a pedestrian | R500 | 1 |
| Overtaking and overloading | ||
| Overtaking across a barrier line (light vehicles) | R500 | 1 |
| Overtaking across a barrier line (buses, trucks) | R750 | 2 |
| Overloading a vehicle with max 56,000kg combination mass by 12-13.99% | R1 500 | 5 |
| Speeding | ||
| 81-85km/h in a 60km/h zone | R750 | 2 |
| 100km/h+ in a 60km/h zone | Determined by court | 6 |
| 106-110km/h in an 80km/h zone | R1 000 | 3 |
| 120km/h+ in an 80km/h zone | Determined by court | 6 |
| 121-125km/h in a 100km/h zone | R750 | 2 |
| 131-135km/h in a 100km/h zone | R1 250 | 4 |
| 140km/h+ in a 100km/h zone | Determined by court | 6 |
| 131-135km/h in a 120km/h zone | R250 | 0 |
| 141-145km/h in a 120km/h zone | R750 | 2 |
| 151-155km/h in a 120km/h zone | R1 250 | 4 |
| 160km/h+ in a 120km/h zone | Determined by court | 6 |
Source: Business Tech
Mashinini called on road users to continue to strive to increase respect for human life and to treat road carnages with the seriousness it deserves.
