This Week In The News
The now-legal Aarto Act.
The controversial Administrative Adjudication of Road Traffic Offences (Aarto) Act was recently declared valid and constitutional by the Constitutional Court (ConCourt), overturning the Pretoria High Court’s judgement from early 2022. The licence suspension conditions are as follows:
Total points – A maximum of 15 demerit points can be received by a driver. After this, they will be disqualified from driving their vehicle. Duration – The duration of the disqualification will equal three months for every point over the 15-point limit.
Each time an offence is committed, a driver will receive a set amount of demerit points – depending on the severity of the offence – and if they commit multiple offences within a given period, they can lose their licence either temporarily or permanently.
To get it back, they will need to wait until the disqualification period has expired, apply and earn a learner’s licence, and then a full driver’s licence once again. For the full story, click here.
E-bike maker VanMoof goes bust
VanMoof, a Dutch electric bicycle company that saw a surge in demand during Covid lockdowns, has been declared bankrupt after struggling to pay back loans from investors.
VanMoof saw orders shoot through the roof during the pandemic as more people opted for its battery-powered bicycles as a means of bypassing traffic. But ever since the company’s launch in 2009, it also had to contend with a wave of complaints from customers who spoke of faulty parts and breakdowns.
Most problematic parts in new cars
Cars have come a long way since the days of the original Model T, but as they continue to grow more advanced, the number of things that can break or go wrong, like digital displays and other electronics, increases as well.
J.D. Power recently published its U.S. Initial Quality Study (IQS) for 2023, where it detailed the automotive brands that had been reported to have the highest number of problems according to owner feedback.
J.D. Power noted that the quality of cars had seen a substantial decline within the last two years, as the number of issues reported per 100 vehicles jumped by 30 points to reach an industry average of 192.
This means that 192 problems are reported for every 100 new vehicles on the road, according to the IQS – a survey that has been running for nearly four decades.
“Today’s new vehicles are more complex – offering new and exciting technology – but not always satisfying owners,” he said.
Expected petrol price for August
The Central Energy Fund (CEF) has revealed its mid-month data for fuel prices in South Africa, with the latest projections indicating that petrol 93 will see a small decrease come August, while 95 octane prices are set to go up. Diesel, on the other hand, is expected to see another price jump across the board, narrowing the gap between it and its more refined counterpart.