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• The Automobile Association (AA) is calling the authorities about the driving card system.
• Motorists are being severely fined for expired licenses.
• The AA says the current system broke down even before the shutdown began.
• For more racing stories, visit www.Wheels24.co.za
Over the past few months, thousands of motorists have been writing to Wheels24 editor Janine Van der Post about the never-ending battles trying to get licensing appointments online to renew vehicle and driver license cards.
There has also been an outcry from motorists having to pay stiff fines for expired lockout licenses, many of which fall between the national lockdown between March 26 and May 31.
Van der Post says: “Motorists are now also easy targets for traffic officials and are being fined severely for something that has been out of their control. The entire online reservation system is flawed and in need of a drastic overhaul for further efficiency. It would also help a lot if driver’s license cards only needed to be renewed every 10 years, instead of every five. ”
Now, the Automobile Association (AA) is calling authorities on the driving card system that is in desperate need of a change in operation.
The AA says a moratorium on fines for drivers without urgently renewed driver’s licenses should be put in place, and immediate action should be taken to fix the current renewal processes.
Image: Wheels24 reader Hermione Hurwitz “The current system broke down even before the lockdown started.
“Now, with thousands of eager motorists struggling to renew their driver’s license cards for a variety of reasons, the flaws in the system are being exposed even more. And, what is more concerning, is that there appears to be no recognition of this by the authorities, or any attempt to help the public.
“We must be honest and admit that current processes are simply chaotic,” says the AA.
The Association says it is of particular concern that traffic law enforcement authorities, already lacking in resources and inadequate personnel, are setting up barricades to trap motorists with expired driver’s license cards and vehicle license discs. , even though they are aware that there are few avenues for motorists. actually to renew these documents.
Meanwhile, the most serious infractions go unaddressed because traffic law enforcement officers focus on easy targets.
The AA says traffic enforcement should focus on road safety and not revenue.
“It is an absurd situation in which motorists cannot renew their discs or cards and are then arrested and fined for not having done so. It is not news to anyone that the online reservation system does not work, that the Driver’s License (DLTC) are erratically open and understaffed, and that online networks at DLTCs are also often down, leaving drivers unable to renew their cards.
“The only people who seem not to recognize these problems are the authorities and it is the motorists who ultimately suffer,” AA notes.
Image: Wheels24 / Janine Van der Post
The Association says that the vast majority of motorists in the country want to stay legally on the road and do everything possible to renew their driver’s licenses. But ask, what should drivers who depend on their vehicles for income do if they can’t renew these discs and cards?
“Law-abiding citizens with no alternatives must continue to use their vehicles to work and then are punished for a problem they did not cause, by the same authorities that did,” says the AA.
In addition to imposing a moratorium on fines, the AA says it has now become more than critical that alternatives to current renewal processes be implemented.
“Not only must outside agents like the AA be allowed to renew driver’s license cards, but the current system needs a radical and rapid overhaul. The current way of doing business must certainly change, and change now, “says AA.
The AA says the calls by the Organization Undoing Tax Abuse (OUTA) to extend the validity of driver’s licenses from five to ten years make sense as long as motorists undergo eye examinations by registered professionals at least every five years to ensure your vision is good enough to stay safe on the road.
It suggests that these eye exams are also carried out by motorists and presented to authorities when asked to do so. But, says the AA, the increase in the validity of licenses from five to ten years must be paralleled to ensure that the current system is improved and updated.
“Motorists should be able to easily renew their vehicle license discs and driver’s license cards, through a system that is responsive and available, and that actually works,” concludes the AA.
