Transport sector: change Aarto bill

The transport sector has asked Parliament to do away with clauses in the Administrative Adjudication of Road and Traffic Offences (Aarto) Amendment Bill that place an extra administrative burden on business.

Cancom, Bidvest Car Rental, the Southern African Vehicle Rental and Leasing Association (Savrala) and the Southern African Bus Operators Association (Saboa) asked that the transport committee reconsider a clause in the Aarto bill making owners accountable for traffic infringements incurred by drivers of their vehicles in the event the owner does not have driver details. The industry’s representatives made submissions as part of continuing public consultations on the bill.

Cancom MD Lauren Olinsky said businesses in the sector often had to put vehicle-licence renewals on hold for extended periods because of infringements incurred by past clients.

In a written submission, Savrala vice-president Marc Corcoran said the bill’s clause on vehicle owner liability placed an impractical administrative burden on car rental operators that could not capture all their customers’ details.

“Our industry has often, but unsuccessfully, tried to engage with authorities on the nature of rental data to be collected to serve the administration of traffic infringements. Even if it is collected, there is no way to validate that the personal data submitted by a renter is correct,” Corcoran said.

In another written submission to committee chairwoman Dikeledi Magadzi, Saboa executive manager Eric Cornelius said the association was concerned that the demerit provisions in the bill would not improve driver behaviour.

“To introduce demerit points for minor offences such as parking infringements will not improve road safety .... The demerit points system should be limited to infringements which have a direct impact on road safety … such as speeding [and] reckless driving,” he wrote.