Jamaica’s Upper House on Friday passed the Road Traffic (Reprieve and Nullification of Prescribed Notices) Act, 2023. Motorists with outstanding traffic tickets since February 1, 2018, have until January 31 to pay to avoid prosecution.
Opposition senators sought to convince the Government to amend the expiration date of the bill from January 31 to April 30, or start afresh with the new Road Traffic Act, relieving motorists of all offences accrued since February 2018, but like their colleagues in the Lower House on Thursday they lost their bid to have the expiry date amended.
The Government has argued that delinquents have had sufficient time since February 2018 to make good on their traffic tickets and will therefore not be afforded more time to pay. The traffic court has been overwhelmed in recent weeks, with thousands of persons flocking locations to pay, some being given dates to return to court later in the year.
Leader of Government business in the Senate, Kamina Johnson Smith explained that “Offences under the (old) Road Traffic Act, once the law comes into effect, are now deemed to be offences under the 2018 Act, so they will start to be prosecuted in that regard,” adding, “This not a perfect solution for transition, but it will deal with millions of tickets, millions of demerit points it will ensure that many people… that persons who have had very few and very small infractions will start with a clean slate.
Opposition senator Lambert Brown says the greater failure is the system, “what we are doing now is akin to putting the 1938 Act into the 2018 Act. I agree about the need for safety on the roads, I agree that we want order on the roads, but the failed system that we’re trying to clean up, ought not to be proceeded with. Really and truly what we should do is just call a halt and start brand new”.
The bill gives persons a period of reprieve to address outstanding matters for the motoring public in respect of notices issued prior to February 1, 2023, under section 116 of the old Road Traffic Act.
Outstanding tickets issued prior to February 1, 2018, and demerit points accrued up to February 1, 2018, will be null and void and not carried over to the new law which comes into effect February 1, 2023.
