KINGSTON, Jamaica — Motorists are to benefit from a reprieve for any outstanding traffic tickets issued before February 1, 2018 for which payment of the outstanding penalty has not been made.

Minister of Transport, Daryl Vaz says motorists will also gain reprieve from any charge for an offence that may have arisen from failure to pay a prescribed notice issued before February 1, 2018, “if the charge was not determined by a court, on or before January 31, 2023”.

He was speaking Tuesday in the House of Representatives where he piloted the Road Traffic Reprieve and Nullification of Prescribed Notices Act 2024, which was debated and passed.

Vaz remined the House that in the 2023 Act, provision was made to make void the prescribed notice.

“This bill will go further to make void any charge for an offence that arose from failure to pay the prescribed notice issued before February 1, 2018. In relation to that charge, the court has not made a determination on or before January 31, 2023,” he said.

The amendment will also result in demerit points for all drivers being nullified against all drivers’ licences before the January, 2023 date.

Vaz reminded the House that outstanding tickets issued before February 1, 2018, and demerit points accrued up to February 1, 2023 were made null and void and not carried over to the new Road Traffic Act 2018, which came into effect on February 1, 2023

For all tickets that were paid by January 31, 2023, the demerit points were expunged.

In his contribution to the debate, Justice Minister Delroy Chuck clarified that when the original Act was passed and relief was given to individuals who had tickets before 2018, “you wanted to waive all of that”.

He explained that “when the judges looked at it they felt that this amendment was necessary because it didn’t completely waive matters that had [already] started”.

Meanwhile, Chuck told the House that he visited the Kingston Traffic Court in the aftermath of Hurricane Beryl to assess the damage and was alarmed at the number of traffic tickets in storage.

“The storage for tickets up to 2018 occupied two trailer loads and they want to get rid of them but …they were waiting on this amendment,” he said. The justice minister said another aim of the amendment was to “give as much concession to violators up to 2023”.

He lamented that it was sad to see the number of people turning up at the traffic court to pay fines because they did not settle within the 30 days given for them to do so, at which time the fine could be paid at any tax office.