Cops seek 795 road users who failed to pay traffic ticket fines

Sep 04, 2017 News

If you were issued with a traffic ticket and failed to pay the fine, you just might be one of the
795 people that the Guyana Police Force is trying to track down.
Traffic Chief Dion Moore disclosed that his department has started a campaign to recover money owed to the courts by these individuals.
Kaieteur News has been informed that 795 warrants have been issued for the year so far with most being for traffic violations.
Traffic Chief, Dion Moore said that having recognized that a lot of these tickets go unpaid and the lengthy time it took for the drivers to be apprehended in the past, the force embarked on the warrant drive campaign.
“There is now a swift process whereby the court quickly acts and issues those warrants and divisionally, every week there is a warrant drive where we look for these offenders and have them pay for the warrant issued to them,” the traffic chief noted.
Moore pointed out that the drive was a welcome one and some members of the public responded by saying that they never used to pay the tickets.
Kaieteur News was told that because many persons did not pay for the tickets, they continued violating traffic laws.
“(Now) every traffic offence you commit we want to catch you and prosecute you. There are some you can get away with a warning.”
Additionally, the Traffic Chief noted that the force has embarked on speeding, driving under the influence, driving while using cellular phones and unlicenced drivers after recognizing that those are the offences drivers commit regularly.
To date, 15,253 persons were charged for speeding, 1,278 for driving under the influence, 918 for driving while using a cell phone and 565 persons were charged for driving without a licence against 145 for the same period last year.
“This tells us a lot of unlicenced drivers are driving on our roadways—these are persons without experience, without knowledge and are highly at risk of being involved in an accident or making other road users cause accidents,” Moore pointed out.
He is asking members of the public who know individuals who drive without licences to ask them to desist this dangerous practice.

Traffic Chief, Dion Moore

As it relates to speeding, Moore commented, “At no time should you engage in conversation as to who is the best driver. Anyone who wants to determine if they are the best driver or who has the fastest car then the best place is the approved South Dakota Circuit and even then there are regulations you have to follow there.”
Last week, Moore had also warned motorcyclists of the danger of riding without helmets, while disclosing that 15 motorcyclists had died on the roadways in the past eight months.
That figure changed to 17 last Thursday when motorcyclist Malcolm Ross also known as “Shabba”, and pillion rider Jewel Pestano, 20, of 99 Bel Air Street, Albouystown, Georgetown, perished in an accident at Cummings Lodge, East Coast Demerara.