By Prior Beharry
POLICE officers have issued more than 7,000 tickets for speeding and a further 3,000 for cellphone use while driving for the year thus far.
In a release on Friday, the Trinidad and Tobago Police Service (TTPS) stated that Senior Superintendent Traffic and Highway Patrol Branch Senior Superintendent Wayne Mystar warned drivers to obey speed limits and not use their mobile phones when they are driving.
Mystar said, “Ticket data from the UTURN Traffic Enforcement System indicates that for 2022, law enforcement officers have issued 7,011 fixed penalty notices to motorists for exceeding the speed limit, while 3,098 were issued for using or holding a mobile phone while driving.”
He said, “These are two very high-risk behaviours being engaged in by drivers and with traffic levels having returned to pre-pandemic levels, drivers need to pay more attention to the roads.”
The release stated that data from the Traffic and Highway Patrol Branch Rodway Surveillance Unit stated that road traffic deaths have increased by 24% in 2022 with 62 persons having lost their lives on the roads compared to 50 for the same period last year.
Police Road Safety Project Coordinator, Sgt Brent Batson said that the two recent road traffic deaths involved two-wheeled vehicles which are classified as “vulnerable road users” as the user is exposed to greater risk of injuries and death when incidents occur.
He said, “Pedal-cyclist and motorcyclists have no peripheral protection around their bodies as compared with motor vehicle occupants, thus impact forces are directly applied to the human body which unfortunately are often either serious or fatal. Both incidents suggest the contribution of human factor issues, as they occurred late at night when low visibility requires road users to exercise higher level of alertness and caution.”
