Aarto placws bigger burden on transporters

New amendments to the road traffic demerit system – which falls under the Administrative Adjudication of Road Traffic Offences (Aarto) – will place a heavy burden on f leet owners and transport operators to ensure driver and vehicle compliance and avoid legal and insurance headaches. This is according to Nerisha Besesar, an associate in Shepstone & Wylie’s litigation department, who said that transporters should implement internal policies to ensure compliance with the demerit point system (DPS). “This would include assigning an employee as a representative to lay down hard and fast rules and policies within the company.” She suggests that transporters ensure their employees are educated about the rules of the road and that they understand the implications of the DPS. “There is also a more stringent burden on the transporter to perform background checks on all drivers, ensuring that the driver has a valid driver’s licence and does not have a history of disregard for traffic rules and regulations,” said Besesar. She added that vehicles should also be regularly checked to ensure roadworthiness at all times as f leet owners/operators stood to lose their operator cards. Besesar told FTW that insurance companies would take the DPS into consideration when determining a f leet owner/ transporter’s insurance contribution rates. INSERT & CAPTION There is a more stringent burden on the transporter to perform background checks on all drivers. – Nerisha Besesar