Transport Minister Eli Zakour says the government is cracking down on road violations to save lives.
The new amendments to the Motor Vehicle and Road Traffic Act, effective January 1st, have led to long lines at licensing offices across the country since Monday.
At a Media Conference on Wednesday, Minister Zakour defended the government’s decision to increase the fines for a host of road traffic offences.
“All that we are doing is to improve road safety, ensure compliance, and I make no apology: we are doing this to save lives. We are also installing new road signage across Trinidad and Tobago, across all highways.”
The Minister said the previous system was not having any impact on the way the public drives.
“The demerit points came into effect in May 2020. 2021, 2022, 2023, road fatalities increased, and in 2024 it went up by 22%. The demerit point system did not work. It penalised some and did not others. There were persons with 12, 14, and 15 demerit points being disqualified, and some with over 150 and 200 that were not disqualified.”
The Transport Minister noted that his Ministry is working to ensure that the public’s dealings with the Ministry are more user-friendly.
“Currently, persons could go online to renew their certified copy. You no longer have to go in to the various licence offices. You could choose to collect at TTConnect locations, or you can choose delivery at your home. Very soon we will be launching the online fixed-penalty system where persons could pay their fixed penalties in the comfort of their home or office.”