Drivers beware: Demerit points system in effect from Monday

As of Monday the much-publicised Road Traffic Demerit Points System will be in effect and drivers found violating the rules of the road will do so at the risk of having their driver's permits suspended for up to two years.

The system which was originally reported to be launched in September, 2019, was born out of amendments to the Motor Vehicle and Road Traffic Act in 2017 and seeks to encourage safer and more responsible driving from the public while allowing the authorities to better monitor the behaviours of drivers.

News of the demerit system surfaced in September 2016 was met with apprehension by some and welcome from others who felt the system was necessary to take a more proactive approach in reducing road fatalities.

Under this system drivers begin with zero points on their record. As the driver violates traffic offences more points will be added to his or her individual record.

If a driver accumulates more than ten but less than 14 demerit points within three years, the permit can be suspended for six months. Whereas if the driver accumulates more than 14 but less than 20 within the same three-year period, the permit will be suspended for one year and two years if the driver accumulates more than 20 points.

The number of points that can be issued against a driver at any one time may vary from two to 14 depending on the seriousness of the offence or the number of offences, ranging from having no TARE and MGW painted on the vehicle which carries a penalty of two points to causing death by dangerous driving which is penalised with 14 points.

According to a release issued by the Works and Transport Ministry on Sunday, the system will be supported by the UTurn software management system which will allow the strikes against drivers to be recorded in a secure, digital platform that can be accessed on the field by the authorities.

At a media briefing at the police administration building last December, police Road Safety Co-ordinator PC Brent Batson revealed the electronic devices officers would be using to ticket drivers. The devices will be able to transfer information on drivers from the police to the Licensing Division of the Works and Transport Ministry.

Batson said, "Those same three to four tickets can result in a license being suspended and you being disqualified from driving. They will have real-time consequences for enforcement on the roads and driver behaviours."

He also said the police had 110 of the machines available, while the Ministry of Works and Transport had 75.

Earlier this year Marvin Gonzales, director of legal services at the Ministry of Works and Transport, in an interview with Newsday said drivers whose permits had been suspended after repeated violations would be mandated to re-sit driving tests and regulations in order to be re-issued their permit.