Police to focus on illegal vehicle modifications

Guyana’s traffic authorities are stepping up efforts to clamp down on illegal vehicle modifications, including coloured headlights, fancy number plates, and excessively tinted windows, especially windshields. On a recent televised programme that was hosted by the National Road Safety Council, police officers say these cosmetic alterations not only breach vehicle fitness laws but also endanger lives by impairing visibility, especially at night and during rain. Inspector Roberts, who is in charge of traffic at the Tuschen Police Station under Regional Division 3 (Essequibo Island- West Demerara), said the police continue to monitor high-risk areas along the West Coast corridor. He explained that the division has been focusing on both education and enforcement to curb reckless driving and ensure greater compliance with road safety regulations.
“The law clearly states that you must have two white lights on the front of your vehicle,” explained one officer. “Although we find drivers are taking out the light that the vehicle comes with and putting in a colour, like they have blue, they have different colours.” Through an ongoing “White Light Campaign,” traffic ranks in that division are revoking fitness certificates and charging drivers for breach of prescribed fitness. “They are given a day or two later to bring the vehicle back to the station to be examined. We identify all the defects. And then they will receive all the fitness,” the officer added.
The growing trend he says, is fuelled by a desire to stylise vehicles, mostly by younger drivers. “They bought a vehicle and they started decorating it with various things,” one officer remarked. “You are not supposed to alter or put on anything. And if you need to do that, you need to then go back to the authorities to have it included on the vehicle.” The problem extends to fancy or non-reflective number plates that make it difficult for speed cameras to identify vehicles.
Heavily tinted windscreens remain a sore issue, particularly since some drivers must roll down their windows to see during rainstorms. “When the rain falls, some of these same drivers have to wind down their driving window to peep to see where they’re going,” Chairman of the National Road Safety Council, Earl Lambert, noted
Despite ongoing enforcement, some drivers continue to reapply tint after being warned or charged.
Police have urged both the public and auto dealers to be part of the solution by avoiding the sale and use of unauthorised vehicle accessories.