THE long-delayed updated version of the new Road Traffic Act (RTA) is expected to be tabled in the House of Representatives next month.

The Bill has been through a robust period of review since it was withdrawn from Parliament in 2016, after several defects were pointed out during the debate in Parliament.

Minister of Transport and Works Mike Henry, who confirmed yesterday that the final round of reviews has been completed, and the latest draft has been approved by the cabinet and would be tabled in January.

Wth the existing Road Traffic Act dating back to 1938, there is a general feeling that its repeal and replacement is long overdue.

The new provisions and modifications to the RTA Bill are expected to take Jamaica a significant way towards ameliorating the critical issues faced by road users, and help the country to achieve its objective of aligning local traffic regulations with international best practices.

The National Road Safety Council (NRSC), which is mandated by Parliament to be the lead agency in managing the efforts to reduce road traffic injuries, while welcoming the fact that traffic deaths for 2017, at 270 at the end of November, a much welcomed improvement over the last two years — closing out significantly less than the 379 in 2016, or the 382 in 2015 — noted it will not be able to achieve the goal of less than 300 fatalities which was set at the beginning of the year.

As part of that strategy, the NRSC had targeted those categories of road users who head up the list of fatalities.

http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/auto/new-traffic-act-expected-in-january_121107