?Mo­torists are now li­able to pay sig­nif­i­cant­ly in­creased fines for road traf­fic of­fences as the new Mo­tor Ve­hi­cle and Road Traf­fic Reg­u­la­tions are now in ef­fect.

The was con­firmed by sources in the Par­lia­ment yes­ter­day. The leg­is­la­tion was pre­sent­ed by Works and Trans­port Min­is­ter Colm Im­bert dur­ing the last ses­sion of the last Par­lia­ment.

Among the of­fences with sig­nif­i­cant­ly in­creased fines are:

�2 Dan­ger­ous dri­ving – $3,000;

�2 breach of the Pri­or­i­ty Bus Route – $2,000;

�2 tint­ed wind­screen/win­dows, ob­scur­ing view – $2,000;

�2 fail­ing to com­ply with a traf­fic or­der – $1,000;

�2 ex­cess speed/rac­ing/speed tri­als with­out per­mis­sion – $1,000;

�2 play­ing mu­si­cal/noisy in­stru­ments in ve­hi­cles – $1,000;

�2 ex­cess smoke/sparks – $1,000;

�2 dri­ving on foot­path or pave­ment – $1,000;

�2 no MGW/Tare paint­ed on – $1,000;

�2 Fail­ing to keep left/im­prop­er over­tak­ing (left) – $1,000;

�2 us­ing ve­hi­cle con­trary to reg­is­tra­tion – $1,000;

�2 fail­ure to wear seat­belt dri­ver/pas­sen­ger 17 years – $1,000;

�2 ply­ing maxi taxi out­side route – $1,000; and,

�2 ve­hi­cles in maxi colours – $ 1,000.

The leg­is­la­tion was among the last passed in Par­lia­ment be­fore it was dis­solved on April 8, paving the way for gen­er­al elec­tion on May 24, 2010.