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Traffic fines to your inbox?

CAPE TOWN -  Draft legislation could pave the way for provinces to e-mail traffic penalties to vehicle owners.

Amendments to the Law on the Administrative Adjudication of Road Traffic (Aarto) published in the Government Gazette in February 2013 could result in fines being emailed.

Beeld newspaper reported that the introduction of Aarto, which is currently enforced in Johannesburg and Pretoria, had repeatedly been postponed in other parts of the country due to administrative logistics.

END OF SNAILMAIL FINES

Some 13 years after it was proposed, the Aarto penalty points system has yet to be enforced, largely because of legal wrangling and criticism of the legislation.

According to the newspaper, Johannesburg metro police had been quoted as saying it had no budget to send notices by registered mail - the only way to serve a notice of prosecution without human delivery.

The proposed amendments suggested that the state was trying to change the original law to enable e-mail notifications of fines.

Members of the public can e-mail their comments before March 21, to John Makgatho on Ngwako Thoka.

Wheels24 says: Our biggest concern would be the prevalance of phishing scams and email filters. What if your account marks a traffic fine as "spam"? The state's email address would become known as an originator of spam messages and its emails would automatically be deleted or moved to a specific folder.

Part of the final notice via snailmail is to prove via registered mail that the fine was delivered. The addressee has to sign for it and you're required to provide proof of address. If your traffic infringement remains unopened in your inbox, could the state challenge your receipt of the fine?


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