HUNDREDS of motorists braved the hot sun on Wednesday outside the National Arena in St Andrew as they waited patiently to enter the building to pay outstanding traffic tickets in order to avoid the heavy hand of the law.

Wednesday was the first of a two-day initiative which gave motorists with unpaid traffic tickets issued in Kingston and St Andrew between February 1, 2018 and 2026 an opportunity to clear them and avoid enforcement of their warrants.

The Court Administration Division (CAD) reported last evening that more than 1,500 tickets had been processed long before the 5:00 pm end of the day’s activities. They were unable to give the total number of tickets processed after 5:00 pm, or the total revenue collected for the day.

For the most part Wednesday, the traffic violators were properly attired for a court setting, though some had dress code issues. Those who came in shorts, sandals and the like, quickly learned from members of the Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF), who were out in their numbers, that they would not be entering the Arena unless they made garment adjustments in keeping with attending court.

Assistant Commissioner of Police Michael Phipps (right) receives a briefing from a member of the Jamaica Constabulary Force outside the National Arena in St Andrew. The occasion was day one of the Court Administration Division’s Traffic Ticket Days initiative.(Photo: Garfield Robinson)

It caused some frantic moments for one man who had more than 60 unpaid tickets which he went to clear. He was among those wearing sandals.

The man had to make numerous calls to his wife, pleading to her to purchase a pair of shoes and bring them to him.

Hours later, just before his scheduled time to go in, relief came when his wife appeared with the shoes. Smiling, he put them on and went inside to settle his debt with the State.

Andrew Richards was grateful for the opportunity to get rid of his unpaid ticket in a relatively comfortable setting, rather than at an actual courthouse. The story he gave why his ticket was unpaid had to do with “happenings” surrounding Hurricane Melissa on October 28 last year.

Motorists receiving important information regarding their outstanding traffic tickets on Wednesday morning. (Photo: Garfield Robinson)

“I was driving on my Ps and Qs because I didn’t want to get pulled over and get into problems. A friend of mine, his father had three tickets and they stopped him and took him to jail because a warrant was out for him. I never wanted that to reach me so I am glad for this. The same day it was launched, I registered,“ he said.

“I got a ticket that was due on the day of Hurricane Melissa. I had to wait for money to come on October 25th. I tried going online on October 26th but the Internet was not working. On the 27th I tried again and then Jamaica got messed up on the 28th. After Melissa, the entire system went down so there was no court. My court date was a month later but the courts were closed,” he explained.

At noon on Wednesday, 724 tickets were processed, according to Trecia Cameron-Anglin, director of the CAD, the entity that organised the initiative.

She clarified that the Traffic Ticket Days initiative was not an amnesty, but an opportunity to clear a backlog in the courts and to give thousands of violators a chance to be heard.

Security screening was a must on day one of the Traffic Ticket Days at the National Arena in St Andrew on Wednesday. (Photo: Garfield Robinson)

“We are not authorised to do an amnesty,” she said in reference to the CAD and its powers.

“Three hours in, we had 724 tickets that had been processed and the courtrooms were still full. As you can see outside, we have the 1:00 pm appointments being processed now and we are also seeing people for 4:00 pm appointments in line,” she said.

The daily proceedings begin at 9:00 am, and are expected to end at 5:00 pm, with the last set of appointments scheduled for 4:00 pm.

There was some confusion in the morning around the time when the doors were opened at the Arena, as people who received afternoon appointments showed up early, trying to get in.

Maurice Taylor was one happy motorist after clearing his traffic tickets on Wednesday. (Photo: Garfield Robinson)

That issue was quickly settled by the JCF and the CAD.

Assistant Commissioner of Police Michael Phipps, who is in charge of Area Four, is leading the police side of things at the Arena over the two days. He told the Jamaica Observer that he was pleased with the high level of cooperation from the public.

“We are here to ensure orderliness. We are pretty much satisfied with what is happening so far. I say thanks to the citizens who have been cooperative in terms of our efforts here. We hope day two will go as smoothly as day one,” Phipps said.

Up to Wednesday, there were roughly 1.2 million outstanding tickets which were issued to more than 400,000 traffic violators, based on data provided by the CAD.