I am confident that you will agree most drivers think driving on South African roads is a risky affair. The government knows it, the law makers know it and the traffic officials know it. AARTO aims to address the issue of road safety for all but is the bigger picture of safety for all being understood?

AARTO is an acronym for Administrative Adjudication of Road Traffic Offenses. The significance of this road act, that has now become a major project for road users, is that it is having an impact on the way we need to drive now and the way we are going to drive in the future.

AARTO started as a pilot project in the Tswane area and is now operational in Johannesburg too. AARTO is expected to be rolled out to the rest of Gauteng during 2009 and will then be rolled out nationally. Visit the AARTO website at www.aarto.co.za for more essentail information .

 We are inviting you to comment on AARTO and it's implementation and the issues mentioned below:

• You may be well aware that road safety is a world wide issue. Thousands of drivers are killed or injured every day on the roads of this planet.  According to the World Health 1.2 million people die on roads accross the globe annually. Fourty percent of these deaths are amongst people under the age of 29. This figure excludes those injured and maimed. The truama inflicted on families and friends is always unbearable, because it is so unexpected. Nobody expects a call informing them of the death of somebody close to them.


• How are the road traffic rules being enforced and is the way it is being enforced justified by the morbid statistics? Recently there have been a number of reports in newspapers and news sites about people being arrested for traffic violations. In all of these cases people were surprised by the arrests and the fact that they were put into jail cells with strangers. In one particular case reported on www.news24.com Mr Gerrit  van Zyl was arrested for driving on the shoulder of the road and put in a cell with 8 other motorists. They spent the whole day in a "dirty" cell without food and shivering with cold until released on R500 bail. Here we have an issues about being treated with dignity by law enforcement officers and a safety issue, i.e that of the people being arrested and forced into sharing cells with other criminals.


• An email has been circulating telling the story of how  Mr Wimpie van Rensburg was arrested for going through a yellow traffic light. The arresting officers thought he was driving recklessly. They explained to him that there was a change in the law and that they can arrest him for driving being recklessly  and that is a criminal offence.  A few issues of importance to motorists are being highlighted here. Who knows the laws in this case? How do we as motorists conduct ourselves when we are arrested, even if we do not agree with the legitimacy of the arrest? How well do we know AARTO? How aware are we of the general road safety situation in SA; should one prehaps slow down even for a green traffic light in anticipation of a driver speeding through the opposite red traffic light? In our Helpful Info section we will be publishing the information you need to know to help you manage situations when you are arrested.


• We would probably agree that the laws and those who enforce them have the same objective; to ensure safe roads for motorists to travel on in peace. So when an official sees a motorist traveling on the shoulder of the road where emergency vehicles are supposed to travel he must do his job and arrest the driver. Traffic officials remind us that emergency vehicles are there to save somebody in distress and need an open road to get to their intended destination. But do they have to be so single minded about the rules and their jobs and not take any explanation given by the offending motorist into consideration?


• What do drivers think about the general driver attitude towards road traffic violations? Do we care? Do we need to be harshly treated  to make us abide by the rules or will we educate ourselves and change the way we drive? What is the bigger picture here,  is AARTO only catering for road safety without focussing on the safety of those arrested and are the public and traffic official educated about road rules, legal rights and how to conduct ourselves when an alleged transgression is followed by a fine or an arrest? Where are the problems and the solutions?    

Share your thoughts with one another and let us try and help one another in the interest of road safety and a longer life. We like fixing dents, but we want people to be safe on roads everywhere.

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