THE police are now in high gear for the roll-out of the new road traffic law, as motorists continue to overrun traffic courts across the island, with just a day before time runs out on the reprieve that Government has offered from traffic ticket penalties dating back to February 2018.

Police Commissioner Major General Antony Anderson implored members of the Jamaica Constabulary Force on Monday to familiarise themselves with the most pertinent components of the law, and to be mindful of their interactions with citizens in enforcement activities come Wednesday.

Speaking at a Road Traffic Act and Regulations training conference at the National Police College of Jamaica, the commissioner said: “We are about to get going. There are a lot of persons at South Camp Road Traffic Court trying to get their tickets paid, [and] hopefully, after this period, things will settle down and we will move forward with people becoming more compliant with the rules and regulations of the new Act.”

Anderson stressed that it is also important that both the police and the general citizenry be educated about the new law.

“We are working on some information; we are also working on a rough and ready guide [for the police], particularly with those offences that are most common, so that our officers have an easier time. This Act impacts probably a wider cross section of the country than every other Act because everybody uses our roads,” he stated.

The police commissioner urged members of the police force to focus on the key components of the new Road Traffic Act over the coming days.

“There will be a lot of information. It’s really important that, as we get started on February 1, that we are au fait with what we need to be doing. In the early stages we are going to have to spend a lot of time guiding persons [and] as we deliver those tickets it’s important that we have the correct interaction with the public. When you ticket someone it’s not personal, they have done a breach and we respond,” he said.