The recent announcement of the Administrative Adjudication of Road Traffic Offences Amendment (Aarto) Bill signed by President Ramaphosa is a move to improve road safety by using a demerit system for disobedient drivers. The Act will see motorists lose points for traffic offences, which could lead to the suspension of their drivers’ licences.
Rudolf Britz, chief actuary at Momentum Short-term Insurance, says the Act will restrict the number of fatalities on South Africa’s roads in the long term. He adds that the amended bill aligns directly with MSTI’s ongoing Safe Dayz™ initiative.
“At Momentum, we believe in the importance of innovation and finding smarter ways to help our clients not only to be safe, but also to reward them for doing so. Our Safe Dayz™ app, which was launched in 2017, allocates points to clients based on their good driving behaviour and smarter driving choices such as carpooling or taking the Gautrain. Clients get cashback in their pockets through premium discounts and other benefits.”
The app can also be used by passengers whose scores are calculated based on their driver’s behaviour. Clients who use the Gautrain instead of their cars automatically score 100% for their trips.
South Africa has one of the highest road accident rates in the world, with alcohol and speeding being among the leading contributors to the country’s crashes. Young people between the ages of 18 and 24 are more likely to be involved in a vehicle accident than those in the 25 to 49 age group. This is according to the 2017 International Transport Forum’s Road Safety Annual Report1. Initiatives such as Safe Dayz™ and the Aarto Bill place a huge emphasis on keeping South Africans safer on our roads.
“Our short-term insurance offering is underpinned by pillars of convenience and safety. By encouraging positive driving behaviour, we not only keep our clients safe, but we deliver on our promise of not just covering our clients’ possessions, but their personal safety too,” says Vickey Swanevelder, Head of Operations at Momentum Short-term Insurance.
“Momentum will assess each claim based on its own merits and the materiality of a having a license and the type of incident will be carefully assess, for example claims would still be paid out in the instance of theft, hijacking and malicious damage, says Swanevelder.”
While government has various road safety programmes and law enforcement measures in place, such initiatives need the support of all insurance companies and South Africans alike if they are to make a significant impact.
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