This country's differently abled community is welcoming the introduction by the Ministry of Works and Transport of penalties for the misuse of disability parking.
On Monday, the Ministry announced that motorists who fail to observe disability parking zones, or display a cancelled or expired permit, will be fined $2,000 and lose three demerit points on their driver’s license.
Executive Officer at Caribbean Sign Language Centre, Nicole Paul, and founder of the Autism Siblings & Friends Network, Maya Nanan, both told Guardian Media they are pleased that Government has placed focus on the differently abled community.
However, they both are concerned about the dissemination of this new information.
Other Demerit Points System penalties were reduced from three points to two, and the fines from $1,000 to $500. These include traffic signs, parking violations and vehicle equipment offences.
Meanwhile, President of Arrive Alive, Sharon Inglefield, says she hopes Minister Rohan Sinanan has made the right decisions.
“Arrive Alive does not understand the change of policy and the review with regards to the decrease in penalty points and fines for breaches like traffic signs and no parking, etcetera. There should be consequences for making poor choices,” she asserts.
And the TTPS’ Road Safety Coordinator, Sergeant Brent Batson, says the reductions were made after stakeholder consultations and public feedback.
“It's not high-risk violations,” he explained. “That is not to say that if someone breached a No Entry or drove up a One-Way for example, that that’s not a risk. Of course it is a risk, but it tends to be more of a lower scale violation where people just didn’t see the sign.”
The Demerit Points System was implemented in 2020 and according to the Works and Transport Ministry, it is aimed at monitoring and improving the driving behaviour of motorists.
