New digital driver registry to track traffic violations

…as Govt tightens road safety measures

Attorney General (AG) and Legal Affairs Minister Anil Nandlall on Thursday announced his chambers will be heading a new initiative that will see the Government establishing a digital registry of motorists aimed at creating a comprehensive record of drivers’ traffic histories, including offences and demerit points, as part of efforts to strengthen road safety and law enforcement.
The registry will see the consolidation of key data on motorists, including licensing details and prior traffic violations, which are currently stored manually across various agencies.
Speaking in a video statement on his social media page, Nandlall explained that his chambers are already working on the necessary legal framework, alongside broader policy changes to address issues such as noise nuisance and littering.
The initiative will involve multiple state agencies and require legislative amendments to support its implementation. The initiative is the continued extension of the Safe Country Initiative, which was the brainchild of President Dr Irfaan Ali.
…The Safe Country initiative remains among our Government’s highest priorities. Making our roadways and public places safer is a crucial factor in this equation,” Nandlall said, adding that “the Attorney General Chambers will lead in an initiative involving the Ministry of Home Affairs, the Ministry of Public Service and Government Efficiency, the Guyana Police Force, the National Data Management Authority and other important stakeholders to construct and populate a digital registry with crucial information of road users, including data regarding their licence particulars and their antecedents as road users, including previous charges and/or convictions of road traffic and related offences.”

Digitise existing records
He explained that efforts are underway to digitise existing records, some of which are stored in physical files across multiple locations.
“The data is there; it is accurate, but you have to go and get it manually on case jackets, on files scattered all across the country. We now have to make a concerted effort to get the manual data up and inject it into this digital registry and connect to the various important stakeholders that require this data in the exercise of their lawful function,” he said.
According to Nandlall, the system will be accessible to key institutions, including the judiciary, the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP), the Guyana Police Force (GPF), the Guyana Prison Service (GPS), the Probation Department and the Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA).
“This measure will allow for a greater and more efficient enforcement of our road traffic legislative framework, specifically the diligent enforcement of penalties such as the demerit system that authorises the suspension and revocation of driver’s licences for different categories of offences, such as, inter alia, drunken driving on the road and motor manslaughter,” he said.
Manual system limits
The AG noted that the current manual system limits the ability of Magistrates to access a driver’s full record when adjudicating cases.
“So for example, a person who is charged at Vreed-en-Hoop and appears before the Vreed-en-Hoop Magistrate Court in relation to speeding or drunk driving or motor manslaughter, for that matter, the Magistrate hearing the matter is not equipped and is not possessed of the antecedents of that person,” he explained.

“The Magistrate Court would not have the previous convictions or charges of that person for that offence or similar offences. And that stultifies the enforcement of these important measures, for example, the suspension and revocation regime provided for in the law in relation to driver’s licences for repeated offenders.”
He emphasised that the new system will ensure judicial officers and law enforcement agencies have immediate access to accurate information.
“This system, this measure, the construction of this registry, and the accessibility of the information stored in the registry to police officers, to the Probation Department, and most importantly, to our judicial officers will ensure that they have all the information readily available to them to make informed choices, informed decisions, and impose appropriate penalties in relation to repeated offenders as the law contemplates,” Nandlall said.
Amendments
In addition to the registry, the Government is preparing amendments to the Motor Vehicles and Road Traffic Act to address noise pollution and littering.
“Based upon His Excellency’s direction, the Attorney General Chambers is ready with a new wave of legislative amendments to the Motor Vehicle and Road Traffic Act and related legislation to address issues such as noise nuisance, including that which emanates from motor vehicles and littering in public places,” he said.
Nandlall highlighted concerns about excessive noise from vehicles, particularly motorcycles operating without mufflers.
“Motorcycles right now, as a matter of fashion and style, are being ridden without mufflers, creating a public nuisance and an uncallous and intolerable level of noise. We cannot continue with this system of uncivilised behaviour,” he stated.
He also addressed the issue of indiscriminate dumping across the country.
“The inconsiderate and absolutely callous and indiscriminate dumping of refuse on city streets and in main drainage canals across the country cannot be something that, as a decent, law-abiding, health-conscious society, we continue to tolerate,” he said.
He emphasised that while the process will depend on technical coordination among agencies, the Government intends to move swiftly.
“The Government’s position is to get this accomplished as quickly as possible, but of course we depend on the technical people, and the technical people will depend on the current authorities and agencies that have the data in their possession. So it is an interconnected effort, but the Government’s position is that it must be done with extraordinary dispatch,” Nandlall added.