Jamaican motorists will face fines ranging from J$2,000 to $500,000 for breaches of the long-overdue new Road Traffic Act, the regulations of which become effective as of midnight, Wednesday (February 1).

In a statement on Monday, Minister of National Security Dr Horace Chang disclosed that the awaited legislation will promote a ‘new culture of safety’ as citizens traverse the island’s road network.

At the same time, while insisting that the soon-to-be-enacted measures were not created to ‘shore up’ government revenue, the minister appealed for compliance and buy-in from the wider public.

“The Government has heard the cries of many Jamaicans who have been the victims of reckless drivers on our roads, under this new law we will restore rule of law, order and decency on our roads,” Chang said.

“We urge compliance, and we ask all law-abiding citizens to support this new initiative which is aimed at protecting us all,” added the minister.

Motorists have again been encouraged to clear any outstanding tickets in their possession after January 31, 2023, with assurances that the court system will continue to adjudicate on cases that have missed their assigned court date.

Motorcyclists will be under increased scrutiny come Wednesday, as the new Road Traffic Act takes aim at errant riders who breach road conduct, noise level and overall road competence regulations.

In addition to long-established rider and pillion helmet measures, motorcyclists must be properly trained and certified as they are no longer allowed to only possess a learner’s permit to ride. Armed with decibel meters, members of the Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF) will also be testing noise levels from motorcycles—to ticket offenders that exceed the set limit of 85 decibels.

An updated demerit system now empowers the Island Traffic Authority to suspend drivers’ licences after collecting a determined number of demerit points.

Contrastingly, drivers who accumulate demerit points lower than the licence suspension threshold will have their records cleared after 15 months, if the points expire.

Enforcement will be high on the government’s agenda as the Ministry of National Security rolls out electronic monitoring utilising State-owned assets such as the Jamaica Eye CCTV system.

Meanwhile, Chang indicated that 750 electronic ticketing system handheld devices have been procured and are in the process of islandwide distribution for the JCF’s Public Safety and Traffic Enforcement Branch (PSTEB). These digital ticketing devices are set to be fully operational in time for the Wednesday enactment of the Road Traffic Act, the minister elaborated further.

See breakdown of select infractions, penalties and demerit points to be imposed as at February 1, 2023, below: