South Africas new driving rules to be implemented in June 2021.

Transport Minister Fikile Mbalula said that the National Road Traffic Amendment Act will be introducing a total prohibition of the use and consumption of alcohol by all motor vehicle operators on the South African Roads. As said by Fikile Mbalula “When you drive your car and get into a vehicle you will need to be 100% sober”. 

This new rule means that the concentration of alcohol in the human body in any blood specimen must be 0.00 gram per 100 millilitres. Currently the National Road Traffic Act (NRA) allows those who have alcohol in their system to get behind the wheel and drive. The law is as follows: 

For normal drivers, the concentration of alcohol in any blood specimen must be less than 0.05 gram per 100 millilitres, and in the case of a professional driver, less than 0.02 gram per 100 millilitres.

The South African government will also roll out the new driving demerit system. This system which is already implemented in a number of continents such as Europe will punish repeat offenders of rules that are broken. This will mean repeat offenders stand a chance of losing their driver’s license. The minister of transport confirmed that “We will implement this in June 2021”.

Want to know how the demerit system in South Africa will work? The Aarto Act provides for a system whereby a person, operator or company (juristic person) pays the penalty and incur points when rules are broken. 

The demerit points are allocated to the operators and owners of motor vehicles. If a vehicle is suspended it may not be sold or used on a public road.

If an operator or juristic person does sell a vehicle or scrap or export such vehicle, the demerit points will remain against the record of the operator/juristic person and be allocated to the next vehicle the company purchases.

However, vehicles are not punished by the system – only the driver/juristic person is held responsible for the use of its vehicle.

Your Car Insurance will now have the right to refuse to pay for any accident claims if your blood-alcohol level is over the legal limit. Your premium will now increase as you are considered a high risk driver. The Car Insurer has also every right to cancel your policy and you may find it impossible to get any Car Insurance in the future. 

The main point is that you should never drink and drive! Always use alternative options if you do or nominate a sober driver. 

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