Nearly $1 billion in traffic tickets were issued by the police last year according to the 2021 edition of the Economic and Social Survey Jamaica (ESSJ).

According to the survey, which is published by the Planning Institute of Jamaica, a total of 476,879 traffic tickets were issued during the year under review. It represented an increase of 18.0 per cent when compared to 2020.

The tickets, for which fines totalled more than $968.0 million, were for various traffic offences, the most common being for not wearing a seatbelt which accounted for 27.4 per cent. This was followed by excessive speeding at 10.7 per cent.

Hundreds of millions of dollars flowed into the Government’s coffers as a result as, at year end, 48.0 per cent of the tickets, with fines of $456.9 million, had been paid at Tax Administration Jamaica; 4.3 per cent, valued at $54.9 million, was settled in court; 39.7 per cent, valued at $381.0 million, was before the court while the balance was still outstanding.