The Minister of Public Infrastructure, National Development Unit, Land Transport and Shipping, Mr. Anil Bachoo held a press conference today in Port Louis, to announce the coming into force of the Penalty Points System (PPS) and the operation of over 50 new speed cameras at different places.The PPS, introduced with the adoption of the Road Traffic (Amendment) Bill last year, is now proclaimed and will be enforced from Friday 10 May 2013 onwards.
For the Minister, the authorities will be tougher with regards to speed excess and other road offences. “The number of road accidents keeps increasing. More drivers are becoming less disciplined and are reckless. People are getting away with murder. Enough is enough”, Anil Bachoo said. Every year there is an average of 150 casualties and 3,500 injured following road accidents according to available statistics.There were about 210,000 contraventions for last year only.
Moreover, over 50 new automatic speed cameras have been installed at different high risk spots along the motorway and secondary roads, and will be operational as from Friday 10 May 2013. “The Camp Chapelon speed camera has done wonders and enabled us to reduce drastically the number of accidents in this region”, he said. The Minister also announced that a committee has been set up to look into the harmonisation and readjustments of speed limits on the motorway and other places.
As from Friday 10 May 2013, it will be an offence if a driving licence holder does not have both the driving licence and the driving licence counterpart (DLC) in his possession. Both documents henceforth constitute the driving licence. The authorities have adopted the slogan “Zero Point Zero Traka” to sensitise motorists and licence holders more effectively on the new system. More sensitisation campaigns will be launched across the country and through the media to inform pedestrians, cyclists and motorcycles about discipline on the road and respect for road signs and traffic lights.
The PPS is meant to deter the commission of road traffic offences by assigning penalty points on conviction for certain road traffic offences. Thus, drivers failing to observe the road codes will be severely reprimanded. Penalty points attributed to an offence will remain effective for a period of three years. The PPS may cause a driver to have his driving licence suspended for at least six months if he has exceeded the threshold limit of 15 penalty points. On a second disqualification, the driving licence will be cancelled. Under the proposed Mauritian system, the counter will start at zero, and points will be totalled cumulatively for each and every offence.
Penalty points will be imposed by the Court, in addition to other sanctions such as monetary fines, and used especially to tackle the most dangerous safety related road traffic offences committed by drivers. The range of points provided varies from 2 to 10 in relation to the severity of the offence. The penalty points will be entered on the DLC.
The PPS is in line with government’s strategy to increase road safety and to comply with international norms and subsequently reduce casualties on roads. The system is expected to instill a greater sense of responsibility in motorists and make our road safer.
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