00:00Of the 96 road traffic offenses listed in Schedule 9 of the Motor Vehicles and Road Traffic Act, most of which are subjected to fines, the government says police officers will have to issue first warnings for 18 of them.
00:13The announcement was made by Transport Minister Eli Zakour at a post-Cabinet briefing on Thursday.
00:19Cabinet today approved proposed amendments to Section 80, 82, 88A and 88D of the Motor Vehicles and Road Traffic Act 4850 to introduce and implement mandatory fixed penalty warnings for specific traffic violations in the 9th Schedule, 18 in all.
00:44Zakour says the amendments will be going to Parliament in a few weeks and only then, subject to discussions, will it become low.
00:52He adds that presently police officers exercise discretion for offenses such as broken bulbs, which creates inconsistency in the country.
01:00It will no longer apply to the 18 offenses which are as follows.
01:04No identification lights for plates, three working days to fix.
01:08The number of passengers not written on the right-hand side of taxis, three working days.
01:13No tear and MGW marked on vehicles, three working days.
01:18Item 40, vehicle with defective fittings, for instance, windscreen.
01:23Seven working days.
01:26Item 41, vehicle without silencers or fitted with cutouts.
01:30Three days.
01:31Item 42, unauthorized lights to front or rear vehicles.
01:36Three days.
01:37Item 43, unauthorized letters or figures on vehicles.
01:40Three working days.
01:42Item 44, vehicle without two headlamps.
01:46Three working days.
01:47Motorists will also have three working days to fix park lights, taillights, no left-hand drive notice, vehicles without horns, no reflecting mirrors, vehicles with either defective or no windshield wipers, public service vehicles without spare tires, and removing advertisements at the side of windows of taxis.
02:07Seven working days are provided to fix vehicles producing excess smoke, sparks or vapour, as well as the use of a noisy vehicle.
02:17Minister Zakoura reveals that over 20,000 people were fined for those 18 offences over the past two years.
02:24For 2024 and 2025, 2024, over 12,100, and 2025, over 10,600.
02:38According to Zakoura, if a motorist is stopped by a police officer for any of the outlined offences, he or she will be issued a printed warning by the officer.
02:46Motorists will then have the stipulated times for the various offences to resolve the issue, but there is a check and balance in place.
02:54Once it's fixed, you will go to any police station or license office in the country, present yourself on your vehicle.
03:02Once it's confirmed the defect has been fixed, you will get a written receipt that you will upload to our portal, and the police officers, as well, will submit that receipt to a two-tier system, to a central unit, and the warning will be cancelled.
03:18If you do not present yourself, the warning automatically becomes a fixed penalty notice.
03:23Zakoura reiterates that the proposal is up for discussion, and changes can be made.
03:29He says he has spoken to the Attorney General, and portals for the uploading of receipts are being put in place.
03:35In the meantime, the December 25th amendments to Schedule 9, which came into effect on January 1st, remain in place.
03:43It means that at present, fines can be issued for the 18 offences, and police officers can use their discretion, if they choose to, in issuing warnings.
03:52Alicia Boucher, TV6 News.
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