AARTO Act expected to improve driver behaviour

The Administrative Adjudication of Road Traffic Offences (AARTO) Act is expected to play a role in changing the behaviour of South Africa’s road users for the better.

Spokesperson of the Road Traffic Infringement Agency (RTIA) Monde Mkalipi said, “More than 12 000 road users perish on our roads annually. AARTO will play a critical role in changing the behaviour of road users for the better. We all need to strive towards zero fatalities on our roads. One road death is one too many.”

This comes after the Constitutional Court confirmed the legality and validity of the Act and the Administrative Adjudication of Road Traffic Offences Amendment Act 4 of 2019.

The OUTA brought an application calling on the highest court in the land to confirm the Pretoria High Court’s 2022 judgement which found the AARTO legislation to be unconstitutional and invalid.

According to OUTA, the legislation “unlawfully intrudes upon the exclusive executive and legislative competence of the local and provincial governments envisaged in the Constitution, preventing local and provincial governments from regulating their own affairs.”

The Constitutional Court disagree in its judgement. Transport minister Sindisiwe Chikungu said the ruling affirms the government’s long-held view that this is necessary law to advance the state’s effort in arresting the carnage on the country’s road.

The Amendment Act intends to establish and administer rehabilitation programmes; to provide for the apportionment of penalties; to provide for the establishment of the Appeals Tribunal and add to the functions of the RTIA among others.

Mkalipi added that it is the government’s long-held view that AARTO is a necessary road safety intervention to curb fatalities.

Source –SAnews.gov.za