Aarto demerit system

[Martinco]

There are some emails floating around that the Aarto demerit system has been set in motion as from 5 th July 2011.
I have been searching the web and can find no confirmation of this.

Anybody wiser than me ?

[Dave A]

Strike season. Aarto demerit alarmist email season too?

The RTMC website certainly doesn't have anything clearly definitive on it, other than a vague "by the end of this financial year" - and if the national role-out date had been set, that is one place I would have expected to see an announcement.

[AmithS]

Ive seen those emails too and I am also not sure.

I would just ignore them till you see a fine with real points on them

[Phil Cooper]

It has been implemented and is now in force.

[AndyD]

It has been implemented and is now in force.

Do you have any good evidence?

[murdock]

all i know is it pays not to pay fines rather wait for the 50 % discounts...if you are smart you will put the fine into an investment plan...earn some interest...by the time you have to pay the fine it is discounted by 50 % and maybe you could have eraned enough interest that you just get your money back...

and by the way a myth buster...speed doesnt kill...driving along the freeway last week...i went thru a speed trap but because i am such a good law abiding fella i didnt get stopped...however 1 km further down the road there was one dead fella just been hit by a car...so do speed traps save lives...NOT...myth busted...dumba$$ people kill ...one km further dwn the road another speed trap did it save that poor fellas life i dont think so...so now i am even more convinced SPEED TRAPS ARE A MONEY MAKING RACKET...i believe people who are tied and fall a sleep on the road...text why drivimg etc cause more accidents than anything else.

[Dave A]

It has been implemented and is now in force.

...only in (most of?) Gauteng at this point. Certainly not the rest of the country.

You folk were the guinea pigs

[Martinco]

Another mysterious sentence in this email:

"You will be fined from the first km over the limit" but if you look at the fines for speeding it only starts at 10 ks over the limit. So yes.........there are people out there with lots of time on their hands !

[Phil Cooper]

Researching this, I find that

- the AARTO PENALTIES have been implemented in JHB / PTA region - but NOT the points demerit system (yet).

- The full Act will be implemented "this financial year" - ie before 31/3/2012.

If you are in Jhb and you get a fine in the mail you can ignore it. The Act is VERY precise that they MUST be sent out by Registered mail. But Jhb chooses to ignore that requirement......

AND - The Jhb "Fines officer" is fining foreign driving licences and corporate licence holders 3X the amount of the specified fines - even if the Act makes no provision for that.......

[AmithS]

Definitely a money making scheme, as its part of our countries budget a good few hundred million!

[Dave A]

I got this email today - seems to be full of useful and (hopefully) valid information.

---

JMPD officers operate another roadblock. But if it's been lost in the post, drivers may not even be aware they've incurred a traffic fine.

What to do? There are traffic fines linked to your identity number on the www.paycity.co.za website, but you haven't received the actual fines either by post or hand delivery. Do you pay them or not?

Yes, according to the Johannesburg Metro Police Department (JMPD).

No, according to traffic-law experts, the Justice Project South Africa (JPSA).

JMPD spokesperson Wayne Minnaar says that all fines are supposed to be handed to offenders personally or sent by post, but even if this hasn't happened, if you're aware that the fines exist (for instance by visiting the www.paycity.co.za website) it means you're liable for their payment.

He claims that fines may be sent by ordinary surface mail and need not be registered.

Absolute rubbish, says JPSA's chairman, Howard Dembovsky, who says any fine must be either personally served or sent by registered post, and the law supports his statement.

Section 30 (1) of the Aarto Amendment Act states: “Any document required to be served on an infringer in terms of this act must be served on the infringer personally or sent by registered mail to his or her last known address.”

So why are the JMPD going against this?

“JMPD are a law unto themselves,” says Dembovsky.

“This legislation has been very poorly managed and knowledge with respect to how it operates is sparse. There are few people who understand it and the JMPD are taking advantage of this ignorance to further their own objectives.”

Dembovsky says the traffic department also rely on the fear they have managed to engineer over the past decade where motorists will comply with their demands, lawful or not, because they are so scared of being locked up.

“This is tantamount to criminality in that it is intimidatory and extortionist and the only people that are not scared of them are those who know their rights and obligations under law.”

Dembovsky says the JPSA has submitted a complaint to the Public Protector over the JMPD's actions, and is awaiting a response shortly. If successful, it means a lot of fines issued in Joburg over the last few months could be declared illegal and quashed.

It may be comforting in principle to know that you're not liable to pay a fine if you've never received it by registered mail, but the average motorist, when stopped at a roadblock and threatened with arrest unless they pay the fine, will quickly cough up to avoid jail time.

But Dembovsky was emphatic that motorists could not be arrested for an outstanding Aarto fine, and said his organisation had dedicated attorneys who would protect motorists when they are threatened with arrest at a roadblock.

If you are stopped at a roadblock you can call the JPSA hotline on 081 302 3694.

Prior to the introduction of Aarto, the Criminal Procedures Act compelled traffic authorities to prosecute traffic offenders and those who didn't pay their fines could be summonsed to court for fines as low as R50. The Aarto Act removes the criminal factor from the more minor traffic infringements which means you can't be arrested for them. (When a driver has committed an offence - which is more serious than an infringement - there is no fine and the driver must appear before a magistrate. Examples of offences are drunk driving, driving a vehicle without both number plates affixed, driving at over 40km/h more than the speed limit, etc).

Simply ignoring infringement fines will have dire financial consequences which get worse the longer you don't pay. If a fine is paid within 32 days of the receipt of the infringement notice, then a 50 percent discount applies. However, the associated demerit points (once they're eventually implemented) will still be added to your driving licence.

If you continue not to pay, courtesy letters, enforcement orders and warrants of execution may be served on you by registered mail (for which you will be charged R60 each) or in person (R100 each). This means an initial fine of R750 could cost you R375 if you pay it within 32 days, or well over R1 000 if you continue to disregard the reminders. The Sheriff could also come to your home to collect payment and list you with the credit bureau.

Aarto has been in force in Johannesburg (JMPD) since 1 November 2008 and Pretoria since 1 July 2008, and should roll out to other areas in South Africa within the next year.

The long-delayed points-demerit system is not yet in place - despite what is being claimed by bogus emails - and will come into effect at a time to be announced by the minister of transport.

[Mike Simmonds]

https://www.aartofacts.co.za/

https://www.jp-sa.org/media.asp

Have a look at the above websites for all the latest information regarding the lawful and unlawful acts of the "law enforcement" agencies.

Check out the Current Alerts and Scams that these so called "law enforcing" agencies are involved in.

[Phil Cooper]

HELP!

Is AARTO up and running (with the Points system suspended) - which would seem to be the case with the furore over JHB Council not complying with the Act by not sending out fines by Reg Mail in terms of Act?

Or is the WHOLE thing suspended??

Anyone know for sure?

[Citizen X]

That system will leave us all in limbo anyway. One must bear in mind that your same friendly metro officer who demands bribes from you will be enforcing this system. You may have a situation where you pulled over for no valid reason and our police officials now use this demrit system to demand a bribe from you. What recourse do you as a law abiding citizen now have? You being threatened with having your license suspended.....