Prime Minister Andrew Holness has dismissed public criticism that the hefty fines in the new Road Traffic Act (RTA) are not much more than a revenue measure for Government.

“The incorporation of new measures to improve road safety, which may have financial penalties, [is] not designed as a revenue measure. The Government has no real interest in earning money from bad behaviour. It is there as a penalty to prevent bad behaviour,” Holness said on Thursday at the first weekly meeting of the National Road Safety Council (NRSC) to review and report on the enforcement and effectiveness of the legislation, and examine public concerns.

“The idea of the high fine is to say to you, ‘don’t breach’. We are not interested in the money; we are interested in your safety,” he said, adding, “We do know that the higher the fine the greater the probability that people will try to find ways not to pay, [and] corruption comes in”.

He reiterated that the vast majority of the measures in the RTA are not new, but there has been a lack of political commitment to enforce them.

“Since 2016 when we came into office we have been saying, and we were very clear, that it is our intention to enforce the law,” he stated.

“I am urging all road users, drivers, motorists, pedestrians, motorcycle riders, you now have a duty — ignorance of the law is no excuse — to find out about the law, inasmuch as the Government has a duty to put the information out there about the law,” he stressed, pointing out that the Administration had taken into account public concerns over the past week, and moved to address the contentious issue of child seat restraint systems for public passenger vehicles.

At the same time, he urged the police to apply discretion in enforcement, and not use the measures as an opportunity for exploitation.

“I know that the police have put in place quality control mechanisms; the leadership of the police is very concerned about complaints of corruption and citizens offering bribes, or policemen asking for bribes. This cannot be tolerated, because it undermines the confidence of the citizens,” he said, urging the leadership of the police traffic division to intensify the interdiction process for members of the constabulary who give the organisation a bad name.

Holness made clear that at this point, the Government does not intend to offer another traffic ticket amnesty.

“It is highly unlikely,” he emphasised, “we have reached a far way in resolving some of the cross-ministerial bureaucratic and administrative issues, which would have justified an amnesty in the past.”

He also advised that legislation is to be brought to Parliament, by Justice Minister Delroy Chuck in another two weeks, for the implementation of electronic signatures for warrants for those who have committed traffic offences, and not paid their tickets on time.

“Once that is in place, then an unpaid ticket, which has passed the time for payment at the tax office, is now a candidate for the issuing of a warrant, and once a warrant is issued, the policeman doesn’t have to call in to base to check, the police will have the capabilities to immediately check and see whether or not a warrant is out for your arrest,” he said.

He stressed that the new point-of-ticket system eliminates human error, and that the public can be assured that no one will be penalised for a system error for tickets being transferred from the old paper-based system.

At the same time, he stressed that the promised review of the law is not a parliamentary exercise, but an examination by the NRSC of provisions which need clearer explanation. The council has also been tasked to engage the public on the new measures.

“I am tasking them to get out on the roads and have the conversations with the people. We must be ready with the information and the explanations, we must bring the people along with us as we seek to have the law enforced,” he said.

The NRSC comprises representatives from the ministries of transport, economic growth and job creation, health, national security, justice, and local government and rural development.