AARTO

AARTO is an abbreviation for the Administrative Adjudication of Road Traffic Offences Act. It was approved by Parliament in 1998 and more than ten years later, Transport Minister Sibosiso Ndebele told parliament that the point demerit system that stands at the core of this legislation will come into force on 1 April 2011.

AARTO was designed to encourage the payment of fines, to persuade drivers to obey the rules of the road and to lighten the load on South African courts. The Act states that less serious traffic offences will be moved from criminal offences to civil proceedings, but the accompanying point demerit system may see your drivers’ licences suspended for three months once they have exceeded 12 points. Should the fines be ignored, they may permanently lose their licences, professional driving permits or operator cards.