Minister of Home Affairs, Oneidge Walrond, has announced that the government is actively working to amend the Road Traffic Act to impose stiffer penalties for traffic violations including reckless driving.
In an interview with the News Room, Walrond revealed that discussions are already being held with Traffic Chief, Mahendra Singh to identify areas where the existing laws can be strengthened.
“The Traffic Chief and I have already sat down and dealt with the different penalties and amendments in the Road Traffic Act…it’s one of the things we are both passionate about,” Walrond said.
She explained that while many of the laws are already in place, authorities believe that current fines and penalties are not severe enough to deter dangerous behaviour on the roadways.
“We are actively looking at this with the Attorney General’s Office in terms of making amendments to our road traffic laws so people really understand the punishment ought to suit the negligence in which people are currently using the roads,” Walrond stated.
According to Walrond, the proposed changes will ensure that repeat offenders and those committing multiple infractions face more serious consequences.
“Amendments to several penalties in the way in which we undercut, you having several infractions when it should be a more serious penalty to more infractions you have.
“Those kinds of things have not yet been in our laws, so we are looking at that amendment for sure,” Walrond told the News Room.
Walrond emphasized that the government views legislative reform as an important step in addressing what she described as “the terrible use of our roadways”.
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