Police call for reduced traffic fines to help the poor

The police have called for some traffic fines to be reduced, arguing that lower penalties would improve compliance and reduce the growing number of unpaid warrants.

Traffic law-enforcement directorate head commissioner Petrus Swartz announced this during the National Council standing committee on transport, infrastructure and housing’s public hearings on the motion on road accidents in Windhoek on Monday.

He said the current penalty system puts an unfair burden on low-income motorists who cannot afford to repair defective vehicles or pay fines.

“A motorist can get a fine worth thousands, yet he cannot afford to fix that same car that truly just brings an administrative backlog, because the warrants of arrest just keep piling up.