‘Aarto must move beyond speed violation issues’

The focus of Aarto must move beyond speed violation issues towards driver and vehicle safety as well as moving violations. That’s the view of AA public affairs head Gary Ronald who addressed last week’s Transport Forum on the issues around implementation of Aarto and the points demerit system (PDS). Statistics show that between 1998 and 2010, the number of road accidents has risen from 512 000 to 1 million, with an estimated 14 000 fatalities in 2007/8. The cost to the economy has risen from 14 billion to 140 billion. “These statistics are more than enough motivation to do something positive about it,” said Ronald. He stressed that safety of vehicles through roadworthiness, periodic vehicle testing and vehicle maintenance was key and was addressed through Aarto. Road user behaviour is also effectively addressed through Aarto, and while the PDS makes significant inroads, Ronald believes the biggest obstacle to successfully implementing it is enforcement – creating a clear correlation between actions and consequences. He believes a phased approach based on priority would make the PDS more ‘do-able’: “If we need to simplify the system in order to make it easier to implement then this needs to be done.” His suggestion is demerits for unsafe driver behaviour and fines for vehicle violations. “Fines collected could be used to fund preventative safety initiatives,” he added.