Younger drivers to have access to heavy-duty licences again

Government on Tuesday took steps to amend the Road Traffic Act to enable the Barbados Licensing Authority to resume issuing heavy goods licences to eligible drivers between ages 18 and 25.

Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Transport, Works and Water Resources, Santia Bradshaw, told the House of Assembly that two months ago, the Chief Licensing Officer took the decision to stop the issuance of heavy good licences following complaints from law enforcement officials that the authority had been doing so unlawfully.

Speaking on the Road Traffic (Amendment) Bill, 2022, which has been passed in the Lower House, Bradshaw explained that in 2017, the then Democratic Labour Party (DLP) administration took the “rushed” decision to make some amendments to the Road Traffic Act.

She said that one of the changes to the legislation required the age limit for persons seeking to obtain a heavy goods licence to be set at 25 years.

Bradshaw said when her Government came to office in 2018 there were no discussions about the changes to the Act, and for the past five years heavy goods licences have been issued to persons under age 25 in breach of the 2017  legislation.

“This is a perfect example of a rushed piece of legislation without sufficient thought, particularly this amendment to Section 69 that has caused a lot of distress to a number of young people under the age of 25 who have been seeking to obtain their heavy goods licences.

“I hope that we can get it right through the Senate quickly as well, so that those young people will be able to have a good gift from the minister for Christmas. Many of them reached out to me and I contacted several who called the office and left messages and sent texts. . .,” she said.

She added that she had also received calls from parents over the past few months venting concerns about their children’s inability to obtain the licence to move on with their lives.

The Deputy Prime Minister said that with the Barbados Police Service raising concerns about the Licensing Authority issuing persons under age 25 with heavy goods licences in breach of the legislation, the Chief Licensing Officer suspend the issuance of any permits which impacted many including those involved in government programmes and at tertiary educations, learning to drive heavy-duty vehicles.

“I believe over the last two years we would have had about 18 young people who would have attained their licences and we have about 40 or so that are due to start next year that fall within that under 25 category. We also have, I believe, another 25 or so who would have been affected by this particular piece of legislation in the Ministry of Youth and Community Empowerment.

“It therefore meant Sir, that to continue to uphold the provisions of the legislation in 2017 would have a direct impact on the policy and the vision of this Government to be able to empower our people in different areas, especially those under the age of 25. So we took a decision to consult with the various stakeholders,” she said.

The minister said between 2018 and 2019, the accident rate amongst drivers under age 25 stood at 11 per cent, 13 per cent in 2020, and 11 per cent in 2021. Bradshaw said the figures prove that there was not a significant difference in terms of the offences being caused by persons under age 25.

anestahenry@barbadostoday.bb