One young driver who received his driving permit only in January 2020, will now be disqualified from driving for a year, after racking up a series of Demerit Points on his driver’s license.
An official statement from the Trinidad and Tobago Police Service (TTPS) reports that the driver in question was stopped during an exercise that was conducted on Thursday morning, by the Traffic Branch Roadway Surveillance Unit, on the PBR in the St Joseph area.
The TTPS says when the young driver was stopped, the new electronic UTURN traffic enforcement system indicated that he had already received a warning for a PBR violation earlier in July. He also had received a traffic ticket later in July for improper overtaking on the left, which earned him three Demerit Points. When added to the PBR ticket issued to him yesterday, the young driver had accumulated a total of nine Demerit Points, two points over the maximum threshold of seven Demerit Points for a Newly Licensed Driver, and will now be disqualified from diving for a period of one year.
According to Section 88M (1) amendment to the Motor Vehicle and Road Traffic Act Chapter 48:50, a newly licensed driver is defined as a driver’s permit or provisional permit holder issued within a period of twelve (12) months, and carries a disqualification period of one (1) year.
During the exercise on the PBR on Thursday, some twenty-three fixed penalty notices were issued to drivers for unauthorized use of the Priority Bus Route. The TTPS notes that under Regulation 2 of the Highway Act Special Roads (traffic) Regulations Chapter 48:01, the offence carries a penalty of $2,000 and six (6) Demerit Points.
In its news release, the TTPS made a strong appeal to all motorists—especially young drivers and members of the protective services—to immediately cease and desist from using the Priority Bus Route (PBR), without the necessary authorization from the Ministry of Works and Transport.
