Speed limit grace for motorists
The tolerance is used to avoid clogging South Africa’s already over burdened legal system with prosecutions of motorists who went only a few kilometres over the speed limit.
South African motorists are offered a degree of grace regarding speed limits, according to Aarto (Administrative Adjudication of Road Traffic Offences).
This consists of a tolerance of around 10km/h, which is intended to account for different speedometer calibrations. However, it does not extend to average speed-over-distance traps.
The tolerance is used to avoid clogging South Africa’s already over burdened legal system with prosecutions of motorists who went only a few kilometres over the speed limit.
As such, South Africans will only be fined when travelling 11km/h or more over the speed limit.
Along with the fine, the Aarto Act, when fully implemented, will allocate demerit points to drivers who break road laws, including speeding.
Regarding traffic fines after this tolerance, the Aarto speeding infringements are broken into two-kilometre-per-hour brackets, each with an increasingly higher fine and allotment of penalty points.
As traffic police are currently out in force, Aarto encourages motorists to view the limits, associated fines and demerit points on www.aarto.co.za
Should you have any fines against your name, this can be picked up on the same site.
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