Losing your licence with AARTO demerits: Are we there yet?

Both businesses and individuals need to start preparing for the much-delayed nationwide rollout of the demerit system in terms of AARTO (the Administrative Adjudication of Road Traffic Offences Act).

Although a launch date of 1 April was announced last year, changes to the legislation are afoot (the extended closing date for comments is reportedly 10 March) and it seems very likely that we are actually looking at a launch date later in 2016.

Whilst we law-abiding motorists will welcome the crackdown on serial traffic offenders, we also need to manage the risks.  Every motorist, every professional driver and every transport operator will be at serious risk of losing their licences/operator permits.  Even businesses outside the transport sector will need to manage this – what happens if your sales people are grounded or your office staff can’t drive to work?

We’ll give you full details of the system once the legislative changes are in place and a definite start date is announced.  Watch this space!

This article is a general information sheet and should not be used or relied on as legal or other professional advice. No liability can be accepted for any errors or omissions nor for any loss or damage arising from reliance upon any information herein. Always contact your legal adviser for specific and detailed advice. Errors and omissions excepted (E&OE)