Administrative Adjudication of Road Traffic Offences Act (AARTO)
One of South Africa's greatest challenges is to reduce the carnage on our roads significantly. The over-arching goal of the AARTO implementation is to increase road safety. The realisation that the greater majority of all road accidents are preceded by a road traffic violation makes the improvement of road-user perceptions, attitudes and behaviour a matter of urgency. The challenge of decreasing the high rate of non-compliance with traffic laws and regulations, coupled with a continuous downward trend in the finalization of traffic violations and a judicial system that is unable to effectively deal with traffic infringements, must be vigorously dealt with as a matter of urgent priority.
The present system of fine collection is totally inadequate. Fines are either not paid, or are substantially reduced without due regard to their implications and impact on human behaviour, or bribes are paid to get off the fine altogether. In some areas courts will only accept the hearing of a limited number of traffic violations, which is detrimental to the necessary successful conclusion of all traffic-related cases.
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