Motorists who think the recently erected speed cameras are only tracking how fast they drive are in for a wake-up call. The Guyana Police Force (GPF) warn that the electronic enforcement systems now active along Guyana’s roadways are capable of detecting multiple violations, and drivers will be ticketed automatically, even without a police officer present.
Officials during the recent road safety program
In addition to monitoring speeding, the cameras can identify drivers not wearing seat belts, vehicles with illegal front tints, and those displaying non-standard license plates, according to senior road safety and police officials.
“It’s not just for speeding alone,” Chairman of the National Road Safety Council, Earl Lambert, said during a recent road safety program. “Off-screwed ID mark, tint on the front screen, seat belt, and speeding — those are offences that can be covered with the speed camera.”
The rollout is part of the government’s broader “Safe System” initiative, which aims to reduce road deaths and improve compliance through the use of technology. But public knowledge about how the system works remains limited, prompting authorities to educate drivers on the expanded capabilities of roadside surveillance.
One area of particular concern is the increasing use of unauthorised or stylised license plates, especially reflective or silver designs that make it difficult for the human eye, and even cameras, to read, Inspector K. Boodlal who oversees traffic enforcement at the Den Amstel Police station on the West Coast of Demerara (WCD), confirmed.
“The number plate must be visible… bold… not cursive,” the officer emphasised. “It must be white writing, black background. And there’s a charge for that; it’s an offence.”
Explaining why improperly displayed plates are taken so seriously, Romana Doorgen, coordinator of the Guyana Road Safety Council, stressed their role in public safety. “If you knock down somebody or you just do something wrong, nobody can look quickly at that number plate,” one official said. “It might be for your own good, it might be somebody stealing a car, hijacking a car, and nobody can pick up your number plate because it’s not properly visible.”
Even tinted windshields, often believed to protect drivers from detection, are no match for the updated technology. The cameras have proven capable of capturing clear images inside the vehicle, even through factory or aftermarket tint.
“I want the viewers to know that the camera will still see you if you’re not wearing a seat belt — even though you are wearing the front screen tint,” Inspector Boodlall said.
In one case, Lambert shared on the program, a driver in the United States attempted to deny receiving a ticket, only to be confronted by photographic evidence of herself in the car, clearly committing the offence.
“The technology is so improved… the camera just pick up. When the thing came, it showed her,” the official recalled. “She told him she didn’t want to let him know that she went there… so she feel like she could have lied and get through”, he said.
With speed cameras now deployed in corridors like Schoonord to Zeelugt, WCD, drivers often try to outsmart the system, slowing down near visible cameras and accelerating afterward, police said. But officials say more installations and unpredictable camera angles are being rolled out to counter that behaviour.
“Drivers got to be very careful when they think that they might be beating the system,” Doorgen cautioned. “The only time you’re going to be shocked is when you get the beep come on your phone saying you get it [a ticket].”
Alongside the cameras, Guyana’s e-ticketing system has eliminated paper tickets in most regions, with offenders receiving digital citations, complete with photos, via email or direct delivery. The police said the goal of the enhanced surveillance is not simply punishment, but safety and deterrence, especially as road fatalities continue to be a concern.
“These things are not there because we want to catch you,” Doorgen emphasised. “It’s because we want to protect you.”
Only a few days ago the GPF announced that over 6,000 speeding tickets were handed out in just three months.
According to Traffic Chief Assistant Commissioner, Mahendra Singh, the implementation of remote traffic management through advanced and modernised camera systems has led to the discovery of over 4,340 electronic speeding tickets between April 7 and July 15 2025.
He said that during the same period, traditional radar guns used by traffic ranks accounted for more than 2,000 cases, bringing total speeding offences to over 6,000 in just three months.
The traffic chief said lawbreakers are recorded automatically without the need for a physical police presence on the road.
He explained that the system ultimately eliminates the possibility of human bias between drivers and law enforcement officers, ensuring that there is objectivity and consistency when monitoring road users.