Rallying for redress

Astley Whyte is among hundreds of bus and taxi operators islandwide who have paid more than 100 traffic tickets in the last 15 years. With last month’s landmark ruling in favour of motorist Maurice Housen, who challenged the legality of hikes in the fines nearly two decades ago, Whyte is now pleading for redress.

In January, the Constitutional Court ruled that motorists who paid traffic fines that were illegally imposed and well above the rates stipulated in the original Road Traffic Act, over a 15-year period ending 2021, are entitled to a refund.

The ruling follows a lawsuit filed by Housen, a software engineer, after cops gave him a $5,000 ticket for a speeding violation in July 2021.

The fine for a speeding violation under the then-in-force 1938 Road Traffic Act was $800.

Whyte, who may be entitled to redress consequent to that ruling, brought some of his hundreds of tickets to an All-Public Transport Operators (Bus and Taxi) meeting at the Half-Way Tree Primary School in St Andrew on Sunday.

There, public transport operators engaged in a discussion on traffic ticket refunds and the way forward.

“On average, I have spent over $1 million with the Government. Maybe millions. Right now, I have tickets that fade out – only the paper [is left], nothing on it. If you see them, you wouldn’t believe,” Whyte said while he pulled a stack of yellow and white papers from a red knapsack.

Whyte also attended the meeting to get assistance with correcting a 2023 printout of his “unpaid traffic tickets”, which includes fines he said he already settled. That list, up to the point of being printed, had 42 tickets.

“I pay all my ticket dem, and I frighten when I know that I owe 42 tickets. I can’t believe it,” he told The Gleaner on Sunday.

The bus and taxi operator for 20 years said he had to deprive his three children of luxuries and work extra hours to earn enough to care for his family and pay his traffic fines in full.

Conroy Nesbeth, a representative of the New Kingston taxi group and one of the panellists at the meeting, lamented that drivers, such as Whyte, are being pulled from their vehicles and hauled before the courts after police officers stop them, make checks on their devices, and see tickets that were paid for but are still showing as outstanding if the drivers do not have proof of payment while working.

“They (the police) are not waiting on us [to get out receipts]. They’re dragging the drivers. Every day drivers in a handcuff. Every day. Even in a di rain. Yuh have driver a get lock up in a di rain on di same ticket dem that the court ruled on,” he said. “So not only is it that our constitutional rights are being violated, but those who go and pay the unconstitutional ticket have to be paying them again and again.”

In a recent interview, Lorraine Finnikin, president of the All Voice Taxi Association, questioned how the court would treat people who have served prison time for failing to pay the illegally imposed fines.

Finnikin said his association is of the view that if its members were charged at the legal rates, they would have been able to pay the fines rather than serve prison time. He added that his organisation was seeking guidance from lawyers on the matter.

“If the lawyers advise us that we have a case to put before the court, then our members are preparing themselves to come up with whatever the cost is for the lawyers to represent us, so our members are waiting on us the leaders to go and do the consultation on their behalf,” Finnikin said.

He also expressed concern about tickets that had been paid but are still showing up on the system as outstanding. He further contended that it may be difficult for some motorists to get a refund if they do not have proof of payment.

Egeton Newman, president of the Transport Operator Development Sustainable Services, called for all the leaders of the associations at Sunday’s meeting to come together in a week to outline in writing steps they can take to get redress for the taxi operators.

“We have to put that [their feedback] together, frame it well, and understand what is happening and reach out back to our members ... . Whatever state we reach, we’ll let the public know,” he said.

ainsworth.morris@gleanerjm.com