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“[…] The entitlement, indiscipline and misdirected priorities of some lawless citizens who inconvenience and endanger law abiding citizens will not be tolerated anymore. No discipline will be met with no tolerance.
“No one will sway me from cleaning up this lawless dump to benefit citizens who try to live decent law-abiding lives…”
The following statement—which reiterates the Government’s commitment to increased fines for traffic offences but also offers time to fix specific vehicle defects and addresses abusive police officers and traffic wardens—was issued by Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar:
Photo: Office of the Parliament 2024.
Over the last few days my statement that the country is a lawless dump has been absolutely confirmed by the high number of traffic infractions and deliberately lawless drivers being fined.
The lawlessness was compounded by the blatant dishonesty on show from many of those ticketed who pretended to have been caught by surprise by the defects in their vehicles or expired documentation.
I want to be clear, their dishonesty and pretense fools no one, the vast majority of citizens who were ticketed knew about their vehicle defects and expired documentation well in advance of being ticketed and therefore fully deserved their fines for their lawless behavior.
The entitlement, indiscipline and misdirected priorities of some lawless citizens who inconvenience and endanger law abiding citizens will not be tolerated anymore. No discipline will be met with no tolerance.
No one will sway me from cleaning up this lawless dump to benefit citizens who try to live decent law abiding lives.
Any citizen is free to mash up the place and misbehave if they want to, but I guarantee that I will continue to meet lawlessness with the swift and brutal retribution that I promised.
Yesterday Ministers Eli Zakour and Roger Alexander provided information to me that a small minority of traffic wardens, licensing officers and TTPS officers have been abusing the ticketing system and terrorizing law abiding citizens.
Photo: UNC.
I cannot let this wicked behaviour continue and must now move to provide protection to law abiding citizens from delinquent drivers as well as misbehaving law enforcement officers.
When I was sworn in as your prime minister, I said: “I will never be detached from your feelings and aspirations. I will never do my own thing while the country cries out for their needs.
“I will always be listening. I will be following you. You will be my priority. You must always know that you have leaders who cares and understands your problems.”
(via TTPS.)
Therefore in the coming weeks, the Government will go to Parliament to
propose to implement the following reforms to make it mandatory for drivers to be given time to repair defects before the fines are enforced.
Re:- Fixed Penalty Notice Warning System:
Offences listed in the ninth schedule and timeframe to fix are as follows:-
- #35: No identification lights for the illumination of identification marks on vehicles at night – 3 DAYS;
- #37: Number of passengers to be carried not printed on right front door of taxi – 3 DAYS;
- #39: No Tare and M.G.W painted on vehicles – 3 DAYS;
- #40: Vehicle with defective fittings (Licensing Authority has confirmed that several defects such as damaged windscreens etc are covered under this violation) – 7 DAYS;
- #41: Vehicle without silencers or fitted with cut outs – 3 DAYS;
- #42: Unauthorised lights to front or rear of vehicles – 3 DAYS;
- #43: Unauthorised letters and figures on vehicle – 3 DAYS;
- #44: Vehicles without two head lamps – 3 DAYS;
- #45: Vehicle without park lights – 3 DAYS;
- #46: Vehicle without tail lights – 3 DAYS;
- #48: No “left hand drive” notice affixed to appropriate vehicle – 3 DAYS;
- #63: Vehicle without horn – 3 DAYS;
- #64: Permitting excess sparks, smoke or visible vapour from vehicle – 7 DAYS;
- #72: Vehicle without reflecting mirror – 3 DAYS;
- #74: Use of noisy vehicle – 7 DAYS;
- #76: Use of vehicle with no windshield wiper of defective wiper – 3 DAYS;
- #79: Public Service vehicle without spare tyre – 3 DAYS;
- #82: Placing of advertisement on side of window of taxi- 3 DAYS.
There will absolutely be NO REDUCTION in traffic fines and strict enforcement will continue until these reforms are made.
The law will be applied equally across the country, it does not matter if you are UNC, PNM or any other grouping.
It does not matter if you are rich or poor, if you are from Debe or Diego Martin, if you break the traffic laws, ANYBODY GETS IT!!!
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It’s all well and good to be tough on certain crimes…but what about the others? Is this Animal Farm? All animals are equal but some animals are more equal than others? When the PM actually gets tough on all crime, I will believe she really cares about lawlessness and is not just trying to bankrupt the lower middle class.
1. The legal position is clear
Traffic fines are imposed only on those who break the law.
They do not target the compliant, the poor, or the unlucky. They target offenders.
Claims that motorists were “caught by surprise” by defects or expired documentation are not credible. Vehicle roadworthiness and licensing are continuous obligations, not ambush requirements. If your lights, tyres, windscreen, horn, or documents are defective or expired, you are already in breach.
On this, the Prime Minister is legally correct.
2. Lawlessness is evidenced, not asserted
A high volume of tickets is not proof of over-policing.
It is evidence of:
widespread non-compliance, and
a culture of tolerated breach.
That is precisely what enforcement is designed to reveal.
3. Dishonesty compounds the breach
Pretending ignorance of defects or expired documentation is not mitigation. It aggravates the problem. The law assumes drivers know the condition of their vehicles. That assumption is reasonable and necessary for public safety.