I got a ticket the other day – $2,000 and four demerit points. I was going 70kph in a 50kph zone and happened to find myself in a “surprise” speed trap.
I could be salty and ignorant about it. I could easily rant and rave that 50kph is a ridiculous speed limit for the road I was on. I could moan about the $2,000 being a ploy to extort more money out of the population’s pocket. I could carry on about power-drunk police officers and that they should be out solving real crimes instead of terrorising law-abiding citizens trying to go about their day.
But I won’t. I won’t complain because I was wrong. I was breaking the law. So, I paid my ticket, and it hurt because I’m admittedly a little stingy and would have rather spent that two grand in more exciting ways.
Break the law and pay the price. It’s as simple as that. And as I reflect on that 50kph speed limit, I understand those extra 20kph I was doing, had I been in an accident, could have been what killed me and someone else versus being left badly bruised or shaken up.
The rules and regulations of the road are there for a reason. To protect ourselves and others. Breaking those rules and regulations are no different from breaking any other laws.
I’ve recently noticed a lot of people getting testy over the demerit system, especially the opposition leader, who, four years after the system was enacted, and one year away from general elections has decided it’s all terribly unfair…c oincidence I think not! Nothing wins the political favour of Trinis like promising to take away mean laws and taxes.
The big complaint is that people are losing their licences and without their mode of transportation they cannot provide for their families! What demons these traffic laws are!
Excuse me? If you have managed to rack up enough demerit points to have your license revoked, its probably a good thing. If you cannot follow the rules of the road and haven’t learnt from your earlier tickets and just kept breaking the law and finally lost your license, that’s a victory, because you are clearly a menace.
I got my hands on the TTPS Road Traffic Safety Summary Review 2023, and let me tell you, we are our own worst enemy. Do you know what the biggest traffic violation was? Not wearing a seat belt. How thick of a people do we have to be, to not understand at this point that seat belts save lives.
You want to talk about a waste of police time? Officer Jonny having to flag you down and give you a ticket for not wearing a blinking seat belt while speeding, is you wasting our police officers time.
Common sense and basic respect of the law will end all this “dem wicked with dey tickets!”
Maybe if we drove like civilised human beings and acted responsibly then our police wouldn’t have to be on the road 24/7 and could use their time to fight major crime, instead of having to remind Uncle Clarence that not having brake lights is a dangerous thing and having your car inspected for road worthiness is for his safety and that of others.
And do not come to me with this whole, “our roads are mess blah blah blah.” A pothole or badly lit street is not an excuse for driving way above the speed limit, overloading your car, driving with smooth tires or not having children under the age of five in a car or booster seat.
Think police officers are being abusive? Yeah, I would be abusive too if I had to deal with a pack of man and woman babies who cannot follow simple directions and don’t understand that breaking the law “just a lil bit” is still breaking the law.
I am sorry if this is coming off as harsh. I know people will roll their eyes and label me an “elitist” who doesn’t understand the struggles of the poor man.
But as somebody who lost a loved one because another person didn’t want to wait at a red light, as somebody who carries the grief of knowing a whole car load of teenagers that were killed because some speeding genius “lost control”, jumped a median and landed on their car, I really do not have pity for people breaking the laws of our road ways and crying when they get in trouble. Nor do I have patience for politicians who try to undermine the importance of laws and penalty systems to win cheap political points.
The point of Demerit System is to be harsh, to discourage lawlessness on our roads. You don’t want to lose your license or pay an exorbitant fee? Then follow the laws. If you find yourself like me and you slip up, don’t be wrong and strong, admit your ass-ness, learn your friggin lesson and move along at 50kph.
Lastly, and cannot not believe I have to say this, Wear Your Seat Belt!!!!! Twenty four thousand and twelve tickets issued last year for not wearing a seat belt, is just embarrassing!
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I Got a Traffic Ticket for $2,000
I got a ticket the other day – $2,000 and four demerit points. I was going 70kph in a 50kph zone and happened to find myself in a “surprise” speed trap.
I could be salty and ignorant about it. I could easily rant and rave that 50kph is a ridiculous speed limit for the road I was on. I could moan about the $2,000 being a ploy to extort more money out of the population’s pocket. I could carry on about power-drunk police officers and that they should be out solving real crimes instead of terrorising law-abiding citizens trying to go about their day.
But I won’t. I won’t complain because I was wrong. I was breaking the law. So, I paid my ticket, and it hurt because I’m admittedly a little stingy and would have rather spent that two grand in more exciting ways.
Break the law and pay the price. It’s as simple as that. And as I reflect on that 50kph speed limit, I understand those extra 20kph I was doing, had I been in an accident, could have been what killed me and someone else versus being left badly bruised or shaken up.
The rules and regulations of the road are there for a reason. To protect ourselves and others. Breaking those rules and regulations are no different from breaking any other laws.
I’ve recently noticed a lot of people getting testy over the demerit system, especially the opposition leader, who, four years after the system was enacted, and one year away from general elections has decided it’s all terribly unfair…c oincidence I think not! Nothing wins the political favour of Trinis like promising to take away mean laws and taxes.
The big complaint is that people are losing their licences and without their mode of transportation they cannot provide for their families! What demons these traffic laws are!
Excuse me? If you have managed to rack up enough demerit points to have your license revoked, its
probably a good thing. If you cannot follow the rules of the road and haven’t learnt from your earlier tickets and just kept breaking the law and finally lost your license, that’s a victory, because you are clearly a menace.
I got my hands on the TTPS Road Traffic Safety Summary Review 2023, and let me tell you, we are our own worst enemy. Do you know what the biggest traffic violation was? Not wearing a seat belt. How thick of a people do we have to be, to not understand at this point that seat belts save lives.
You want to talk about a waste of police time? Officer Jonny having to flag you down and give you a
ticket for not wearing a blinking seat belt while speeding, is you wasting our police officers time.
Common sense and basic respect of the law will end all this “dem wicked with dey tickets!”
Maybe if we drove like civilised human beings and acted responsibly then our police wouldn’t have to be on the road 24/7 and could use their time to fight major crime, instead of having to remind Uncle Clarence that not having brake lights is a dangerous thing and having your car inspected for road worthiness is for his safety and that of others.
And do not come to me with this whole, “our roads are mess blah blah blah.” A pothole or badly lit street is not an excuse for driving way above the speed limit, overloading your car, driving with smooth tires or not having children under the age of five in a car or booster seat.
Think police officers are being abusive? Yeah, I would be abusive too if I had to deal with a pack of man and woman babies who cannot follow simple directions and don’t understand that breaking the law “just a lil bit” is still breaking the law.
I am sorry if this is coming off as harsh. I know people will roll their eyes and label me an “elitist” who doesn’t understand the struggles of the poor man.
But as somebody who lost a loved one because another person didn’t want to wait at a red light, as somebody who carries the grief of knowing a whole car load of teenagers that were killed because some speeding genius “lost control”, jumped a median and landed on their car, I really do not have pity for people breaking the laws of our road ways and crying when they get in trouble. Nor do I have patience for politicians who try to undermine the importance of laws and penalty systems to win cheap political points.
The point of Demerit System is to be harsh, to discourage lawlessness on our roads. You don’t want to lose your license or pay an exorbitant fee? Then follow the laws. If you find yourself like me and you slip up, don’t be wrong and strong, admit your ass-ness, learn your friggin lesson and move along at 50kph.
Lastly, and cannot not believe I have to say this, Wear Your Seat Belt!!!!! Twenty four thousand and twelve tickets issued last year for not wearing a seat belt, is just embarrassing!
Support independent journalism. AZP News is an independent news organisation that is not affiliated with any big business and depends solely on advertising to pay our bills. Therefore, we are asking for the generosity of our readers to help us with small donations of any amount, but we will be happy with $20, $50 or $100. Click Here to Donate