Too little, too late

There are three things that South Africans have headed our way, each with a postponed deadline and probably, each as equally devastating as the next.

E-tolling, the rapture end of the world thing... and Aarto - the Administrative Adjudication of Road Traffic Offences Act.

E-tolling is devastating because, in a nutshell, no one wants to pay a large chunk of their salary just trying to get to work.

The rapture issue is devastating because some poor man predicted the end of the world twice and will probably still get millions to believe him when he equates a third doomsday date.

Aarto is devastating because the people who are to be affected by it - most South African drivers - don't have a clear picture of why it's so devastating in its current form.

I'm sure we all at least know what Aarto is by now. It's a system where drivers gain demerit points when they commit traffic offences, and this will be reflected on the National Contravention Register on eNatis. After 12 demerits are gained, a driver's licence will be suspended.

Both e-tolling and the end of the world - that should have transpired last Saturday - have had their fair share of attention, denial and rejection.

Aarto, however, has so far been that relatively quiet girl at the party who holds the same drink the entire night and doesn't get noticed.

The problem? Her quiet, invisible nature distracts you from the dagger in her free hand that she plans to sneak up on you with.

If I wasn't talking in chick flick Thursday mode, I would say Aarto is appealing but its several potentially devastating flaws are still largely unnoticed or unaddressed.

No one has really stepped in to tackle Aarto. Like e-tolling, Aarto needs significant public uproar for a contestation to be heard and for changes to be made.

One of the problems with Aarto is that jobs are likely to be affected when companies' drivers' licences get suspended and employers let them go because they can't carry out their duties anymore.

So, like with e-tolling, South Africans haven't addressed Aarto sufficiently in the first place and will probably declare war on the system when it's too late.

Farzana Rasool, journalist, ITWeb

Although this is a foreseeable problem, Aarto would only be fulfilling its aim here. Drivers should adhere to the rules of the road and stick to speed limits if they wish to keep their jobs.

Another concern that was raised by freight companies was that employers will be served heavy fines if they let drivers with suspended licences out on the road. However, there was no efficient way for them to determine the status of their drivers' licences before sending them out.

Aarto manager, the Road Traffic Management Corporation (RTMC), said a manual form filling process would have to be carried out to show that the driver has given the employers permission to access their personal licence details, but once this permission is granted there was no formal next step to be taken.

This problem now has a solution. Aarto system developer Tasima says its integration with eNatis for the Aarto system will allow employers to do limited checks on drivers' licences. The employer would only be shown a red light if the driver should not be on the road. This check can be done free of charge.

Now as far as the existing problems go, two that have me sufficiently worried, are that Aarto will perpetuate corruption and see unlicensed drivers on the road.

One of the regulations within the Aarto Act says that when licensed drivers commit offences, they will be fined a certain amount and be allocated a certain number of demerit points, according to the type of offence they commit. Fair enough.

The regulation goes on to say that if a driver with only a learner's licence, or with a foreign licence commits an offence they will not be allocated any demerit points but will have to pay triple the fine amount for that offence.

It gets better. A driver without any form of licence at all that gets caught committing an offence will only have to pay the normal fine amount. The RTMC says it's difficult to find a harsher punishment for this and arrest is only used as a last resort.

Erm...how about making them pay at least a triple fine since those drivers that at least have a learner's licence have to do this?

I know it's difficult but there must be some way to punish them more than those drivers who actually have legitimate licences, instead of less.

Why must the learner driver pay triple the amount while completely unlicensed drivers pay only the normal amount? Somebody tell me please. The irrationality is just killing me. Death by Aarto.

Also, if all an unlicensed driver has to do is pay a fine, why won't all drivers let their licences get cancelled once they expire and then drive without them? Paying a triple fine may be hefty but here's the opportunity for corruption.

“Buy me lunch and you'll only get a double fine. Throw in dessert and we'll call it square. Bribe me, feed me, if you're very speedy.” Fine, that last line is unlikely, but there's no need for me to label the speaker, right?

Back to why this is a devastating problem. The RTMC has started public consultations on Aarto to iron out concerns from the public and ensure better acceptance of what could be a great system for increasing road safety.

The period for public comment ended this month. Only 13 comments were received. Yes, seriously.

The next step is the Aarto summit in June, but that will involve organisations, unions, political parties and the like. Individuals are unlikely to be invited.

So if the problems I've mentioned above bother you, too bad. You're too late.

I don't think SA is apathetic. I just think it takes longer for the aroma of the coffee to hit us.

So, like with e-tolling, South Africans haven't addressed Aarto sufficiently in the first place and will probably declare war on the system when it's too late.

Ten non-demerit points to the person who can guess what will happen when the Act is finally gazetted and the system is ready to be implemented.

Yes, SA will turn red-faced. We'll threaten civil unrest and rebellion. We'll curse the day the system was imposed on us and vocalise our rights, and then we'll quietly follow the system because the law requires us to.

We're like a fat old paralysed man who threatens to beat his captors to a pulp with his bare fists. If only we made use of our legs when we had them.