The dos and don’ts of traffic fines

Howard Dembovsky of the Justice Project South Africa gives a simplified view of traffic fines with regard to speeding tickets and how a summons works.

“There is a misunderstanding about this issue as the public think its okay to ignore traffic fine notices but it isn’t.”

He explained that it all starts out when the alleged infringement is captured on camera and he calls this day zero.

“Within 30 days, a notice of the offence, listed under Section 341 of the Criminal Procedure Act, must be sent to the alleged infringer. If the notice is generated on the 31st day, it is unlawful and must be withdrawn without argument. This is not yet a summons but a time frame in which a fine must be paid before the matter becomes criminal.”

Dembovsky added that the offender should take action on the notice during this time frame but they usually don’t.

“The notice is then sent to the offender via regular post to the last known address of the alleged infringer, a timeline in which the fine must be paid is also on this notice. This time frame is 60 days.”

He added that the alleged infringer may opt to pay the fine or address a letter of representation to the traffic authority and, if the representation is successful, then the fine will either be reduced or scrapped entirely.

“If the above mentioned time frame lapses without action on the part of the alleged infringer, then a criminal summons in terms of Section 54 of the Criminal Procedure Act must be served. And this should occur on the 91st day after day zero. A court date and a date before such court date – before which an admission of guilt fine may be paid in order to avoid a court appearance – must also appear in this summons,” continued Dembovsky.

The summons must be served in person at the last known address or employment address of the infringer. “The summons must be served on a real person but not necessarily the accused. The Criminal Procedure Act allows for the summons to be served on any person who is over the age of 16 and it must be served no later than 14 days prior to the trial date, excluding Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays.”

Dembovsky concluded and said that at this stage the infringer has three options. “The alleged infringer can pay the fine prior to the date on the summons which allows the avoidance of a court appearance, or he/she can approach the public prosecutor with a representation, or the third option is to appear in court on the specified date and defend the matter.”