South Africa’s road deaths average more than 10,000 a year and the cost of car accidents to the economy topped R1-trillion over the past seven years.
The terrifying statistics are an intersect of drunk, negligent and speeding drivers, poor road conditions and vehicle defects which not only rob families of mothers, fathers and children, but also plunge them into despair and financial hardship.
And that doesn’t even address the casualties of crashes — those with minor to serious injuries — who incur unscheduled bills, inconvenience and mental strain.
Five people, including a five-year-old child, were killed in a car accident in the early hours of Sunday in Bergville in KwaZulu-Natal.
The previous week, 20 schoolchildren were injured when a scholar transport minibus — with an alleged drunk driver at the wheel — overturned near West Park Cemetery in Johannesburg.
And the week before, KwaZulu-Natal transport MEC Siboniso Duma ordered an investigation into a minibus taxi crash in which one pupil died and 10 others were injured amid allegations of the driver being drunk.
These three incidents reflect the dire need for something to change on our roads.
The Road Traffic Inspectorate believes the much-vaunted new driving laws and demerit system in the form of the Administrative Adjudication of Road Traffic Offences Amendment Act (Aarto), a legal measure designed to enhance road safety which was gazetted on Friday when President Cyril Ramaphosa signed the proclamation, will put an end to this carnage.
Effectively this means phase 2 of the rollout will be implemented from December 1 when 67 metropolitan and local municipalities join the pilot metros — Johannesburg and Tshwane.
Five months later, phase 3 will kick in on April 1, expanding to 144 local municipal areas, and finally phase 4 will introduce the points demerit system and rehabilitation programme from September next year.
Aarto is the government’s plan to decriminalise certain road traffic infringements and replace them with an administrative one, where drivers will lose points for offences and face suspension or cancellation of their licences if they lose too many, in addition to any fine.
The controversial act, originally passed into law in 1998, is as problematic as the congestion and delays at Gillooly’s or Van Reenan’s
However, the controversial act, originally passed into law in 1998, is as problematic as the congestion and delays at Gillooly’s or Van Reenen's.
The Organisation Undoing Tax Abuse (Outa) took its objection to the bill all the way to the Constitutional Court, which in July 2023 ruled in favour of the government’s plan to introduce a demerit system for traffic offenders. This overturned an earlier high court ruling which declared Aarto unconstitutional and invalid.
Outa and the Automobile Association both argue the new law would make it easier for authorities to make money from traffic fines, but won’t rid the roads of dangerous drivers without proper enforcement.
But the government is adamant Aarto, which replaces the country’s fragmented traffic enforcement in different municipalities with their own bylaws, will strengthen laws for road traffic compliance and make roads safer.
It is steadfast the Road Traffic Infringement Authority (RTIA), which will now adjudicate infringements, will alleviate the administrative burden on courts.
It is also supposed to make communication more accessible and transparent with a move to electronic service of notices and documents — infringements will be sent to the beleaguered South African Post Office.
The mechanics of the move are still unclear. Questions abound about how municipalities will cope with the revenue of traffic fines, what will become of traffic police and the existing speed cameras and hand-held devices.
And of course, given the state of our post offices, is this new system not doomed for failure?
RTIA spokesperson Monde Mkalipi said the agency is aware of the criticism that the new system is bureaucratic and clumsy, but is confident Aarto will start to roll out nationally with the confidence of a newly licensed driver thanks to lessons from its pilot programmes.
Much like the controversial national health insurance, the implementation of Aarto has the potential for necessary change for the better.
The constant threat of bullying, speeding and the devil-may-care attitude of too many drivers will only be overturned by more active policing — which would see traffic authorities on the road curbing the dangerous driving and traffic violations — coupled with taking away the privilege to be on our roads.
December signals the start of the festive season, but tragically it also heralds a time of darkness on our roads.
If Aarto is the vehicle to drive behaviour change on our roads, then we all have to get on board to ensure an end to bloodshed on our highways.
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