By Collen Maepa

Hiccoughs in the new driving system, AARTO, and the Point Demerit System are being ironed out and they will be rolled out countrywide next year.

The Administrative Adjudication of Road Traffic Offences - AARTO - and the Point Demerit System will be officially implemented throughout the country in 2010.

A pilot project was rolled out in Johannesburg in February this year, but the points are only theoretical at present and do not reflect on the records of those who break the road law.

Saving lives is the primary motivation behind AARTO, which is aimed at ensuring compliance with road traffic legislation. Its essential goal is to change the behaviour of motorists from reckless ignorance of road traffic laws to a voluntary habit of compliance with the law.

AARTO is facilitated by the Road Traffic Management Corporation (RTMC) to ensure the proper and effective functioning of its systems and processes, with law enforcement being the key focus.

Once the Point Demerit System is fully up-and-running, reckless drivers will have their driving licences either suspended or cancelled. Demerit points will be used as an educational and communication tool to warn motorists of the effects of their traffic violations.

Game of soccer

According to the chief executive of the RTMC, Ranthoko Rakgoale, the demerit system will be like a game of soccer or rugby, in which there will be rules and regulations and the referee will regulate the behaviour of players on the pitch. In this case, the referee will be Joburg metropolitan police officers and the players will be the motorists.

Rakgoale says Operation Nomakanjani will continue as planned. It ensures that the behaviour of motorists is regulated.

"The minister of transport has said that with the implementation of all these traffic laws and projects, we are trying to save the lives of our people. We will make sure that our roads are safe to travel on."

Rakgoale explains that the Point Demerit System is not being implemented just yet as officials are still communicating with and educating the public about it. His agency and other traffic law enforcement agencies will use radio, the press, the internet, and school and workplace visits to spread the message in all official languages.

AARTO is being implemented in phases, with the Point Demerit System being the last phase. Regarding alleged corruption of metro police officers, Rakgoale points out that no traffic officer will have access to the system.

It is believed the system will force offenders to pay their fines.

Challenges

During the pilot, the RTMC identified problems within the law enforcement, systems and procedure environments that existed before AARTO was launched. These are postal processes, lack of infrastructure, electronic versus physical enforcement, office administrative resources, skills development and training of authorised officers, and communication and marketing awareness strategies.

Challenges relating to the pilot programme were the refunding of penalties paid by motorists, distribution of notices, performance of officers, infrastructure numbers, the performance of systems and postal delivery issues.

Rakgoale says an exciting aspect of AARTO is the measures put in place for the protection of the rights of motorists. Turning to eNatis, the Electronic National Traffic Information System, he says it is working 100 percent.

At present, there are 2 600 metro police officers. Rakgoale says it has been reported that 98,94 percent of the distribution of notices issued by the force were speed related.

http://www.joburg.org.za/content/view/4059/266/