Parliament passes Bill paving way for drivers’demerit points system

06 September 2017 - 16:26 By Timeslive
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Transport Minister Joe Maswanganyi on Wednesday welcomed the passing of a Bill which would ensure that a demerit points system for drivers will be implemented.

The National Assembly passed the Administrative Adjudication of Road Traffic Offences (AARTO) Amendment Bill on Tuesday.

The demerit points system docks points from the licences of drivers who contravene traffic rules. This will result in the cancellation of driving licences for repeat offenders.

The Bill will become law once it has been signed by President Jacob Zuma.

Addressing Parliament on Tuesday‚ Maswanganyi said the demerit points system would provide for an easy and objective mechanism to identify habitual infringers so that the applicable penalties could be imposed. “Those that continue to break the laws will find themselves ultimately losing their driving licences through suspensions and cancellations of their drivers’ licences.”

Maswanganyi said the tabling of the AARTO Bill was a direct result of the untenable and unsustainable road safety challenge in South Africa.

“South Africa has been experiencing a tremendous loss of lives‚ especially of young people‚ as well as the continued disregard of road traffic laws.”

In 2014‚ there were 10‚364 crashes that caused 12‚702 deaths‚ in 2015‚ there were 10‚613 crashes that caused 12‚994 fatalities; and in 2016‚ there were 11‚676 crashes that caused 14‚071 fatalities.

Maswanganyi said that the Amendment Bill also made dealing with infringements very easy and quick and that it would be done through the Appeals Tribunal.

The tribunal would eliminate the backlog and burden of dealing with infringements through the courts.

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