Peter Levy (left), president of the British Caribbean Insurance Company, makes a point during the Transportatipon Reform Proposal Consultation at Hotel Four Seasons in Kingston on Wednesday. Looking on are Transport Minister Robert Montague (centre) and Transport Authority Managing Director Cecil Morgan. (Photo: Garfield Robinson)
THE Government is moving to penalise motorists for road traffic breaches that are detected by traffic cameras and other electronic devices.
In fact, in instances where the driver of the motor vehicle involved in the road traffic breach cannot be identified the owner of the vehicle will be held accountable.
The Government also wants to hold motor vehicle owners accountable for traffic offences committed by individuals they have authorised to drive their vehicles.
Speaking at a Transportation Reform Proposal Consultation on Wednesday at Hotel Four Seasons in Kingston, Transport Minister Robert Montague revealed the proposals, which form part of the last five amendments for the new Road Traffic Act. The amendments were approved in the Lower House on Tuesday.
“This is groundbreaking in Jamaica, and we are leading the Western Hemisphere with [the measure] that the owners will be liable for the actions of whoever is operating their vehicle,” the minister said.
“We have also made the modification in the law that you can be prosecuted for the use of electronic devices. So we can use the traffic camera at an intersection to say that you have broken the traffic light, you have switched lane and all of that; the law never allowed for that, but it does now, and you can be ticketed.
“The other one is if by electronic means a breach is detected and the driver cannot be identified, the ticket will be issued to the registered owner of the vehicle,” Montague said.
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