ERRANT motorists have paid more than half-billion dollars in punitive traffic fines over the past three years, as authorities fought a seemingly losing battle against indiscipline on Jamaican roads.

St James pulled in the lion’s share of traffic fines outside the Corporate Area, with approximately $22 million in 2010 alone. Motorists paid approximately $84 million in traffic fines to the Corporate Area Traffic Court over the same period.

But according to a well-placed Auto source, despite this hefty pay, an even larger amount, estimated to be $2.2 billion still remain uncollected.

Data from the Ministry of Justice, released for the first time through the Access to Information Act, show that in 2008, tax collectorates across the island along with the Kingston Traffic Court raked in $156 million in fines for traffic offences. In 2009, collections jumped to $181 million, and last year traffic fines contributed $224 million to government coffers.

However, the $561 million paid to Government over the three-year period represents only a quarter of the reported outstanding amount.

Up to press time last night, Auto was unable to get exact figures for unpaid fines from the justice ministry. But traffic authorities confirmed the amount at approximately $2.2 billion to date.

The time period for the outstanding fines was not ascertained.

Meanwhile, the reluctance of wayward motorists in paying traffic fines is one factor to be addressed in the new Road Traffic Act, executive director of the National Road Safety Council Paula Fletcher told Auto this week.

According to Fletcher, the revamped Act is expected remove the onus from the State in tracking down delinquent motorists.

“The proposal is that if you go to do the tax offices to do business, people with unpaid fines will be red-flagged,” Fletcher said.

“We are going to move the onus by catching people when they come to do other business matters such as vehicle registration or licensing,” she said.

If the bill is passed through Parliament as stated it means that motorists with outstanding tickets will effectively be barred from doing any other government business.

“It will add to the efficiency of the bill to block people,” Fletcher told Auto. “We have to adopt a work smart type of model to support the information side,” she emphasised. “There has been so much public education, the other part is to now enforce.”

Fletcher made it clear that the law already states that 21 days after receiving a ticket the fine should be paid. If not the offending motorists should attend court.

“Currently if you don’t pay the fine within 21 days it is assumed that you are going to court to contest it,” she said, adding that a summons is then issued if a Court date is missed.

But Fletcher said it was proving increasingly difficult for police to find people to issue summonses.

“It is hard for police to find people who did not attend Court, there is too much onus on the state to find people,” she suggested.

At the same time, Fletcher advocated that interest be charged on outstanding traffic fines as a further deterrent.

“These are the procedures to be worked,” she told Auto, “I would also love to see people pay an interest for outstanding fines,” said the NRSC executive director.