KINGSTON, Jamaica – Straight lines and fast service were the order of the day as motorists turned up at the Corporate Area Traffic Court on Tuesday to address their outstanding traffic tickets ahead of the implementation of the new Road Traffic Act on February 1.

Compared to the chaotic scenes on Monday and last Friday, the hundreds of motorists who converged at the Melbourne Road traffic court were a picture of discipline on Tuesday.

There was a barrier outside the court, and police officers on site to ensure that directions were followed. There were also Court Administration Division (CAD) representatives ushering people inside intermittently depending on the number of tickets that they had outstanding. This resulted in seamless operations at the court and the relaying of directives from authorities to motorists waiting outside the gates.

Kadiesh Jarrett-Fletcher, Director of Client Services, Communications and Information at the Court Administration Division (CAD) explained that these measures were put in place to avoid a repeat of the chaos from the day before where motorists were seen on video rushing and pushing against the outer fence of the court.

“What you are seeing today is something we started organising from yesterday (Monday) in terms of putting special lines and tents and seating for the large crowd that we were expecting. So we have created some specific lines for persons, and we are going to try to hear some matters today for persons walking in,” Jarrett-Fletcher explained.

“For persons who have six or more tickets they will just be having the print out stamped and then they will be called and given a future [court] date, but for persons who have one to five tickets we will try to list some of those for court today,” she added.

Jarrett-Fletcher further advised that the stamping of the tickets means that “you have engaged the process to have your tickets cleared, that’s all it means.”

The tickets were stamped with the date March 3, 2023, which Jarrett-Fletcher said indicates when motorists should be contacted by the CAD with the date they should show up for court. She added however that if motorists are not contacted by then, they should get in touch with the CAD, and they will be advised of next steps.

“We have taken their contact information and we will be calling them. We will be sifting through all the tickets, calling them, listing them for court and giving them that date when they are to appear,” Jarrett-Fletcher said.

Motorists were also told to send an email to customerservice@cad.gov.jm, and include their contact information, TRN and information of their outstanding tickets, and they would be contacted with a court date.

OBSERVER ONLINE reporters who were on the scene witnessed the relief of many who were waiting in long lines outside the traffic court, as they were presented with this option.

However, there were some motorists who expressed concern that the stamped tickets may not be enough to deter possible prosecution should they get pulled over by police after the new Road Traffic Act is implemented.

Police personnel on site were unable to answer this query, therefore it is unclear if the stamped tickets will be sufficient.