$77,000 in traffic tickets issued

TRAFFIC Branch police in the Southern Division were most busy over the long Easter weekend with errant motorists contributing a total of $77,000 to Government’s coffers as a result of 385 tickets being issued for violations to the Road Traffic Laws. The weekend crackdown by South traffic police was concentrated between Tarouba to the Claxton Bay overpass and along the Solomon Hochoy Highway, which in the past weeks has seen a high amount of fatal accidents, which police said were caused by speeding and careless driving.

The exercise were coordinated by ACP (Traffic) Nazamul Hosein and Snr Supt Randolph Protain, led by Ag Sgt Lewis and included Cpls Dwarika and Johnson, Ag Cpl Hoyte and PCs Corbett, Cole, Doodnath, Singh, Walker and Lancaster. According to police, 385 tickets were issued — 185 more than the previous week —  for various traffic offences, some of which included breach of traffic signs, speeding, failure to display taxi badges, defective hand brakes and improper overtaking on the right. The highway patrol police have pledged that they will continue to conduct road exercises to prevent unlawful road acts which could endanger lives. Police are also calling on the driving public to exercise extreme care when using the nation’s highways and roads. Only yesterday, two men were left in critical condition following an accident along the Mosquito Creek in South Trinidad.