Govt to overhaul traffic penalty system

In a bid to update decades-old traffic laws, the government on Tuesday announced it intends to overhaul the fixed penalty regime for road offences, introducing updated fines, new offences and a streamlined ticketing process to reflect social and legal changes since the 1980s.

Bringing an amendment to the Road Traffic Act to the House of Assembly, Deputy Prime Minister Santia Bradshaw said a draft of the updated regime, prepared in consultation with several interest groups, will go to ministers when they meet on Thursday.

She said: “We recognise that in the existing legislation as well, a number of the offences that exist, and I think they’re probably about 16 or 17 offences, (and) these do not accurately reflect the concerns that Barbadians have. It also does not accurately reflect the legal changes that have been made over the course of the last few decades in relation to other amendments to the road traffic legislation and to other ancillary pieces of legislation as well. 

“It therefore means that when we look at what currently exists, if we are beginning the modernisation of our court system [and] our licensing authority, then equally we must look at how do we adequately reflect the changes in thought of Barbadians about what should carry a greater penalty, what offences should now be included because of behaviours that have crept into our society, to make sure that we capture people who are repeat offenders and in some cases they’ve become great offenders at being able to do things that many of us frown upon from day to day. We also cannot ignore the fact that any penalty regime must also be commensurate with the type and the seriousness of the offence.” 

Bradshaw, the transport and works minister, noted that the current ticketing system often results in lengthy delays before matters reach the court and pointed out that the Road Traffic Act currently sets the penalty for exceeding the speed limit by up to 20 kilometres per hour at $75, which she described as “low”.

“You have many situations where people complain that an offence taking place today for going above the speed limit, the matter has taken almost a decade before it has actually reared its head in the court of law or before they even see the summons,” she said.

Additionally, there were some situations where people made a call to have cases disposed of, she said.

“As we improve the operations and modernise systems, we have to bring an end to that reliance, where you can call somebody, and something simply goes away,” said the transport minister. “Therefore, I think where there’s certainty in law when an offence is committed where there is an opportunity for the public to be able to pay for that penalty when it is imposed quickly so that it can be disposed of, is certainly the correct way for a society that is now more developed than it was back in the 1980s.”

The minister also outlined that the government had been involved in consultations with stakeholders regarding the reform of the demerit point system, including what would be required from the court system to get the process — under which habitual reoffenders may have their licences suspended or taken away — back up and running.

She said: “When you look at the demerit point system as it currently exists, you will recognise that again a number of the offences that ought to be included have actually not been included in the current demerit point system. And therefore it means for judges and magistrates that they have not been able to capture offenders in certainly the way that I’m sure they would want to be able to impose the penalties that are necessary. 

“We have a lot of people who go before the courts who a fine may be imposed on them, but that should also come with a commensurate demerit point for the offence which they have committed. It is not now existing. 

“What we will be seeking to do very shortly is to bring that regime to make sure that people are also captured in that net, so that they do not continue to offend and offend and offend in a situation where we ought to give them a warning so that they are aware that their behaviour on our roads in this country is unacceptable, and that is another part of the fixed penalty system that I want to assure the country today that we have reflected on and we have been in long discussions with the stakeholders to make sure that we get it right and we are drawing on the region and internationally to ensure that we get this right.”