Demerits system presents minefield for trucking industry

Although the official date for the national roll-out of the administrative adjudication of road traffic offences (Aarto) system has been delayed till as late as April 1 next year, it’s only putting off the pain for nine months, according to trucking executives interviewed by FTW. The pilot scheme for Aarto has been in full force (excluding the demerit points for now) in Johannesburg and Tshwane since July 16, 2008, and was due to start being rolled out to Cape Town, Durban, Ekurhuleni and other municipalities last Thursday (July 1). But, according to the Government Gazette No 33341 of June 30, the Road Transport Management Corporation (RTMC) and the department of transport have decided to postpone the implementation. This, said Collins Letsoalo, spokesman for the two bodies, “is motivated by the need to ensure effective implementation”. The RTMC feels that it needs more time to make the public more aware of “their rights, duties and obligations” under the Aarto regime. The role of the recently established Road Traffic Infringement Agency (RTIA) – which will operate and monitor the Aarto – also still has to be clarified. It’s a simple and potentially lethal system, which sees those found guilty of infringing the rules of the road facing a fine, and so many demerit points (depending on the severity of the offence) added to their licence. Get 13 or more points in the year, and your licence is suspended for a period (again depending on just how many points you’ve added). Get three suspensions and you’re dead as a driver. And it’s this removal of the individual’s right to drive that worries the trucking industry. Just where in the laws of SA does it say that the authorities have the right to remove a person’s right to earn a living? That was the question asked by Kevin Martin, MD of Freightliner and chairman of the Durban harbour carriers’ association – a KwaZulu Natal section of the SA Association of Freight Forwarders (Saaff). By far and away, the bulk of road traffic offences for truck drivers are of a technical, not a criminal nature, he told FTW. And, for a lot of these – like the truck failing a brake test, or a sidelight out – it’s an argument whether it can be termed the driver’s fault or that of the vehicle owner or company, according to Paul Rayner, MD of DTB Transport. Martin agreed. Another technical offence where it is difficult to apportion blame, is an overloaded vehicle, he said. “The only reference to the mass of a container we’re carrying is in the transport documentation already accepted by SA Revenue Service (Sars) customs. “If the company which uses or packs the container misrepresents the weight – whether deliberately or not – how can we as the transporter or the driver of the vehicle be said to be at fault.” Up to now, the practice at Freightliner in such technical offences has been to pay the admission of guilt on behalf of the driver. “But under Aarto,” said Martin, “he’s going to have demerit points added, and possibly eventually be told that he can’t drive any more, and be put out of work. “That means that we’re going to have to defend every case, and try to prove that it’s not the driver’s fault.”