Motorists’ bill to curb bad driving

THE LONG-awaited Administrative Adjudication of Road Traffic

Offences Bill is a step closer to becoming law after the final touches were put on it by Parliament’s portfolio committee on transport this week.

The law, under which drivers can lose their licences through cumulative minor offences, has been a long time in the making and highly controversial.

There has been a huge push back from lobby groups, some of whom fear this is a smokescreen to get people to finally pay for using Sanral’s loathed e-toll system – or jeopardise their licences. This has been officially denied.

There’s no doubt the new law will change the way motorists have enjoyed life up until now. There will be no way of blaming the post office for delayed fine notifications, because Aarto can use SMS, emails or other delivery platforms.

Being caught in a roadblock with unpaid fines will be a distant memory because the system should sort you out in real time.

The biggest fear among its detractors is that Aarto places the onus on the driver to prove innocence rather than the state to prove guilt. The department of transport has been at pains to point out that the offences envisaged under Aarto are all ones that are normally handled by admission of guilt fines and that there will be tribunals to resolve disputes speedily.

The fears are understandable, but they also have to be seen within the context of the appalling lawlessness on our roads. We cannot call for stricter laws and enforcement and yet fight any potential action to address our concerns.

Signing the bill into law is only one part of the process, implementation will be another – with all its expected legal challenges, but we dare not dilly dally any longer, not if we are actually serious about creating safer roads – and drivers who actually obey the law, not break it with impunity.