2 weeks ago
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Police officers stop drivers during an exercise along the Beetham Highway, Port of Spain on January 4. - Lincoln HolderTHE recent increases in traffic fines and hike in fees for certain government services have received mostly negative views from citizens.
While government has said the measures were to combat chronic lawlessness on the nation’s roads, others contend the increases would place further hardship on a citizenry already grappling with rising unemployment, the high cost of living and feelings of hopelessness.
A behavioural psychologist, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said governments in this country have, over the years, had a laissez-faire approach to enforcing rules and regulations.
“But we have to get to the point where law is law and rules are rules. We don’t have to be harsh about it. We can be firm and consistent,” he told Newsday.
The psychologist said that too often things are left to slide.
“They start things hot and sweaty, and we don’t know how long it is going to last. They had come in with speed guns and radar. But I can’t remember when was the last time I see a police officer on the road with a radar (gun).
“We are not consistent. There is the attitude that ‘they go forget that just now.’ So from a national psyche, those are some of the things that we need to recognise.
But he believes society, from a behavioural change standpoint, can benefit from sustained, equitable enforcement.
He said the decision to implement fines was probably informed by the citizens’ penchant for taking chances.
“We have to ask ourselves, ‘Is that something, as a developing society, that we want to encourage or is that something that we should clamp down on?”
The psychologist used Christmas as an example, saying many people enjoy the last-minute rush for shopping.
“Even going to an all-inclusive fete, down in the dregs, people looking for tickets when they had two months to buy them.
“So there are some things about us as a people that are part of the context in which a politician will make a decision.”
He predicted people may look at how the crackdown is rolled out geographically.
“Is this something being enforced in south where we might call UNC areas, or is it something that occurs only along the corridor. People are going to be looking at all of those kinds of things.”
Then there is the question of benefits and advantages.
“Do we (Government) go hard on this thing, or do we kind of ease people into it? Either one has advantages and disadvantages.
“You go hard, people go be upset, but they will fall in line. You go soft, people are not as upset, but it will take a lot longer to get the compliance and the enforcement going.”
He said citizens generally do not appreciate tough measures but like to be pampered.
“In my view, for behavioural change, both approaches may be required, the firm and hard or easing people into it, then coming with a strict deadline, which can work.
“It is about timing, how you communicate, what your intention is, what the impact will be and how you want to be seen as a government, your brand and knowing your target population, Trinidadians.”
UWI sociologist Dr Shelene Gomes said conformity is an essential ingredient in any society.
“The whole idea of a society is where you have the majority of the population or some kind of consensus on what works and what doesn’t work for, ideally, the majority of the population,” she said.
“The problem arises when you have sets of laws, policies and rules which are all based on institutions that don’t work for the majority of people.”
Gomes said while people were given advanced notice about the fines, “they seem to be quite extreme in an economic situation in which most people are already under strain.”
She added, “If the state is reducing social protection and then you are increasing fines and you are reducing social protection at the same time, that is a combustible situation.
“The core point is that legislation and rules are very important for society to function. But they have to function in the interest of the majority.
“And the question is if you are putting more economic strain on the majority of the population, then it’s not working for the majority.”
Gomes, who also lectures in anthropology, said many people, like Baboolal, often cannot withstand the effects of such economic strain.
“It is already difficult for the working class, and the middle class do not have as much of a financial cushion as they once had. So it seems to be really combustible. We need to have a society that functions, but functions for whom and in whose interest?”
Gomes said decades ago, there was a wane in oil revenue and, at the same time, a structural adjustment, which had put citizens under strain.
She recalled that social scientists and economists had studied the fallout.
“So I think we have immediate lessons from the past, and the thing you hope is that these are not replicated.”
Government said it intends to amend the law to allow motorists with defects between three and seven days to fix the problem instead of facing an immediate fine. The proposed legislation is expected to be debated in Parliament at the end of January.
Drivers: New penalties just too much
Tobago taxi driver Sean Guerra told Newsday he had no problem with the Government’s decision to implement fines but questioned the increases.
“That is going to cause chaos in society. They eh saying they will raise each fine by $100 or $200. It’s by 100 per cent, and it is not right,” he said.
“In this hard time, people could hardly make groceries. The majority of people are suffering.”
“With the same money they charging people in tickets, they will have to build jails because not everybody can pay that.”
Guerra also referred to a Facebook post where a woman complained that she could not take her grandchild to school anymore because her vehicle was not in top condition.
“It is costing her $100 a day to take the child to school and back home and the child has autism. That is just one of the many cases out there.”
The taxi driver, who lives in Mt Pleasant, said he does not expect to be fined anytime soon “because most of the things on my car up to par.”
But he said he learnt that some police officers are “charging people for the finest little mistake.
“I hear they're charging if yuh seat tear and all. What does the seat have to do with the functionality of your car?” he asked.
“I doh like it. That is not right. That is not fair.”
School teacher Karen Du Bois (not her real name), who works in the south-western educational district, also complained about the exorbitant increases.
“It should not have reached to this because people should have their vehicles in order. But some of the increases were too much at the same time,” she said.
“I could understand if it were a couple of hundred dollars but 100 per cent, no.”
The single mother of three said that although her vehicle is in good working condition, she is wary about actions that could lead to a possible charge.
Du Bois, who has a daughter at UWI, St Augustine, described some of the fines as ridiculous.
“To be honest, I don’t know if I could pay some of those tickets, even though I am gainfully employed, because some of the fines are ridiculous, like the chip on your windscreen. And there is nothing like partial payments.”
The teacher said that if she is fined, she will definitely have to cut back on the amount she spends on groceries and her monthly bills.
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