The T&T Police Service (TTPS) intends to continue with its voluntary breathalyser programme to keep drunk drivers off the roads for Carnival 2016.
Officers fFor the year so far over 2,500 people have been charged for drunk driving, an offence subject to a fine which can range from $12,000 to $22,500. TTPS road safety officer Brent Batson said that even this ticketing system was ineffective without stricter consequences. He told the GML Enterprise Desk, “We cannot be issuing the same driver three tickets in a month; until that penalty point comes into play, then the ticket is not really an effective deterrent to the behaviour we want to address.” The penalty point system being proposed through the Motor Vehicles and Road Traffic Bill 2014 which is currently before the Parliament seeks to implement a point system against drivers breaking the traffic laws and could lead to the revocation of an offender’s driver’s licence.rom the Traffic and Highway Patrol Branch of the TTPS said they would heighten their testing at popular Carnival fetes next year.
In 2015, approximately 20,000 people were tested as they left fete venues and the results showed that 8,000 of them were over the legal limit of 35 microgrammes.
Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP), Mobile, Deodat Dulalchan told the GML Enterprise Desk that drivers were encouraged to visit the tents set up by the TTPS when leaving carnival fetes because police would also be setting up road blocks at strategic places near fete locations.
“What is rather strange, though, is that even if we are doing voluntary breath-testing we have some people who don’t want to visit the tent…I mean if you have the first option to be tested so that you know your limit whether you are above and so on, so that you can take that type of preventative measures, the likelihood is great for you to be caught not too far outside,” Dulalchan said.
He said the TTPS intended to intensify its campaign to target drunk drivers and had already communicated with fete promoters the plan to continue the voluntary breath tests.
Dulalchan said that the police could not be everywhere and it worried him that people were not more careful on the nation’s roads. He said, “People need to be very conscious and focused when driving and personally do everything to mitigate the risk.”
The police remain concerned about the speed at which motorists drive and careless driving.
Dulalchan said, “We continue to be charging people for drinking and driving.” This was worrisome, he added.
Ticket system ineffective
For the year so far over 2,500 people have been charged for drunk driving, an offence subject to a fine which can range from $12,000 to $22,500.
TTPS road safety officer Brent Batson said that even this ticketing system was ineffective without stricter consequences.
He told the GML Enterprise Desk, “We cannot be issuing the same driver three tickets in a month; until that penalty point comes into play, then the ticket is not really an effective deterrent to the behaviour we want to address.”
The penalty point system being proposed through the Motor Vehicles and Road Traffic Bill 2014 which is currently before the Parliament seeks to implement a point system against drivers breaking the traffic laws and could lead to the revocation of an offender’s driver’s licence.