LTA considering increasing traffic fines as 60 people have lost their lives in road accidents this year

As 60 people have lost their lives in road accidents this year compared to 21 last year, the Land Transport Authority is considering increasing traffic fines as a deterrent.

Minister for Transport, Ro Filipe Tuisawau says poor driver behaviour has led to a spike in road fatalities,

He says in assessing the trend, there was a spike in group 2 driving license holders involved in accidents and road fatalities.

The Minister says form January to May this year, LTA has noted that 53 percent of fatal cases involve private group 2 vehicles.

He says enforcement by LTA, police and stakeholders continue to curb illegal activities and preventative measures and LTA issued 98,918 camera traffic infringement notices between August last year to July this year.

Ro Filipe says in the same period, 133,664 vehicles were intercepted and 6,389 defect orders were issued.

Ro Filipe says in the 2022-2023 financial year, 2,173 warning letters were given and 28 license holders were issued with final warning.

He says to address the issue of driver behaviour, they are looking into introducing two categories of provisional licenses before drivers qualify for full license.

The Minister says they are also looking at issuing demerit points and incentives such as gold cards for compliant drivers who will be entitled to privileged services.

He says they are also working closely with employers and agencies in conducting driver assessment of employee drivers.

Ro Filipe says through public consultation, they are also working with the Ministry of Education for the introduction of road safety education in the curriculum from an early age to secondary because there is an increase in young drivers holding provisional drivers.