When is Aarto going to start?
We're looking at June 2024.
Would you agree that without a high level of administrative efficiency it's going to be a shambles?
We have prepared the ground. We're looking at our engagement with eNatis to make sure the process is highly automated. That's what we're really pinning our hopes on for the required efficiency. It's going to be built on the national traffic information system.
That hasn't worked very well, has it?
We're interacting with the Road Traffic Management Corporation so that there's an improvement of the system. Challenges are being addressed. When we implemented Aarto in Tshwane and Joburg we didn't encounter major problems and we were relying on the same system.
Why did it have so little impact on road fatalities?
The statistics dropped in Gauteng by 19%.
Because of Aarto?
Perhaps we cannot claim a direct link, but perhaps Aarto contributed.
How?
What Aarto seeks to respond to is the behaviour of road users. That is the fundamental issue.
How will Aarto improve the policing of driver behaviour?
It seeks to promote voluntary compliance. If the system is able to catch habitual infringers on the road and then hold them accountable in the sense that every time they go to renew their driving licences they've got to account for any wrong behaviour.
What if they're using fraudulent licences?
Aarto will have traffic officers and the SAPS on board.
Can a points demerit system like Aarto work if drivers don't care if their licenses are suspended because it's so easy to buy a new one?
It will be important that Aarto ensures that those caught on the road for infringements are held to account.
How will Aarto improve enforcement?
The principle is to bring everyone who violates traffic laws to book.
Aarto will put a lot of emphasis on ensuring that for any wrongdoing on the road there will be consequences and that drivers understand those consequences
Won't that require traffic officers who actually catch them?
Traffic law enforcement will be empowered with electronic gadgets that enable them to capture infringements on the roadside and feed them into the national contravention register on the spot. Aarto will put a lot of emphasis on ensuring that for any wrongdoing on the road there will be consequences and that drivers understand those consequences.
Will this work in a country where the culture of no consequences is so embedded?
We're going to run an intensive public education drive on the new culture that Aarto seeks to instil among road users. The culture of voluntary compliance with traffic laws.
Isn't it totally unrealistic to base this system in a country like ours on voluntary compliance with laws?
As I say, we're going to have a very intensive nationwide public education drive on this legislation and its benefits.
Such as?
You can dispute an infringement ...
That's a very complicated and costly process, isn't it?
The country is concerned about the high fatalities we have on the road. We need to put in resources to make sure we change the culture.
So is Aarto ultimately about revenue collection?
No, Aarto is a national road safety intervention. There's absolutely nothing beyond that.
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