The Demerit System Has Critical Flaws

 

Last April, I was issued my first-ever traffic ticket under circumstances that laid bare the contradictions of our current framework. A police officer, visibly uneasy and openly directed by his superior to penalize me, handed over the citation even as I explained why it was unwarranted. With an apology, he urged me to appeal, assuring me the courts might offer relief. But justice deferred is justice hollowed out. 

 

Though I delayed filing my appeal by mere weeks, as I was flying out of the country that very day and I wanted to ensure I’d be present for my day in court, the system responded with a crushing shrug. An initial hearing date, set just days after my application, was abruptly postponed. Not weeks later, not months, but three years. Three years to contest a citation that should never have been issued in the first place.  

 

But this isn’t just my story, it’s a reflection of a structure that prioritizes procedure over people and penalties over fairness. Here’s the truth, when a driver’s appeal for a traffic ticket can languish in limbo for three long years, it isn’t just bureaucracy, it’s a failure of accountability. Justice delayed is justice denied, plain and simple. A process meant to ensure fairness becomes a source of frustration, eroding trust in the very institutions designed to protect us. 

 

And when suspended licenses are treated as mere suggestions rather than enforceable consequences, the system loses its power to deter reckless behavior. It becomes a hollow gesture, a rule without teeth, and worse a promise unkept to the families counting on safer roads.  

 

But the challenges run deeper. Granting police officers the authority to inspect vehicles without equipping them with the specialized training reserved for Licensing Officers isn’t just impractical, it’s unfair to both officers and drivers. Expertise matters. Without it, we risk errors that undermine public confidence and put road safety at greater risk. We cannot ask our police to shoulder responsibilities they haven’t been trained to handle, just as we cannot accept a system that prioritizes penalties over prevention.  

 

Prior to the implementation of the Demerit System, police officers were only allowed under the law to inspect specific deficiencies within a vehicle such as the roadworthiness of a tyre and other things that would be obvious to a regular civilian. Since being given carte blanche powers, however, police officers have been routinely performing spot inspections on vehicles without the proper know-how and understanding of whether the faults they are finding are truly legitimate or not.

 

So where do we go from here? Let’s acknowledge that clinging to a broken system serves no one. As stated by Mrs. Kamla Persad Bissessar, this UNC government must have the courage to retire this outdated model and redirect our focus toward solutions that work and keep us all safe.  

 

Change is never easy, but it is necessary. Let’s seize this moment not just to critique what’s broken, but to innovate and create a system worthy of the people it serves. The UNC government must therefore forge a path where accountability is swift, enforcement is just, and safety is not an aspiration, but a reality.