KINGSTON, Jamaica — Since the beginning of 2019, some 250,000 traffic tickets have been issued for breaches of the Road Traffic Act.

This was disclosed by Commanding Officer of the Public Safety and Traffic Enforcement Branch (PSTEB), Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP), Calvin Allen, in an interview with JIS News.

Allen pointed out that this represents a 12 per cent increase over the corresponding period in 2018

He said that the traffic enforcement division has been strident in its efforts at ensuring order on the nation’s roads.

“We have remained rigorous and robust in this area as we are aware that there are persons out there who insist on breaking the law,” he said.

Allen said that there has been a focus on public passenger drivers and their general behaviour on the roads.

“We have arrested and prosecuted 45 persons who account for over 20,000 outstanding tickets among them. They have been taken before the courts and we continue to give focus in that area,” he noted.

The PSTEB head explained that even as they go after persons with numerous outstanding traffic tickets, it can be challenging to locate them.

He pointed out that the 45 persons who have been brought before the courts, to date, are all from the Corporate Area.

ACP Allen also informed that since the start of the year, more than 4,000 vehicles have been seized from persons who operate their vehicles without the proper authorisation.

“We have seized these vehicles for various breaches of the Road Traffic Act, such as operating without a road licence, operating contrary to the terms of the licence and having no licence at all,” he said.

Allen said that taxis with dark tints have also come up for scrutiny by his team, as many of them are not compliant with the grade of tint that is laid out in the policy guidelines governing tint on public passenger vehicles.

“Over 1,200 prosecutions have been done within the first four months of this year to taxi drivers who continue to have dark tints on their vehicles. It is an area that we continue to give attention to as inward view, especially for public passenger vehicles, is important for public safety,” he added.

The stipulations outlined in the policy guidelines of 2017 are:

1. No tint on the rear windshield of cars or buses.

2. No tint on the front windshield of cars or buses, except for a visor that is allowed at the top of the windshield. For cars and 15-seater buses, the visor should not exceed six inches and for Toyota Coaster buses the visor should not exceed 10 inches.

3. No tint is allowed on the driver’s door or the front passenger door of cars. A 30-grade tint, allowing a 70 per cent inward view, is allowed on the back-door windows.

4. For buses, no tint is allowed on the windows on either side of the back seat. Tint permitting a 70 per cent inward view is allowed on all other windows leading up to the driver’s window.

5. On buses, there should be no tint on the windows by the driver’s door, the conductor’s door or the front passenger door.

—JIS