70,000+ tickets issued; over 32,000 still unpaid through safe road system

More than 70,000 traffic tickets have been issued through Guyana’s Safe Road Intelligence System (SRIS) since its full rollout in April 2025, with more than 32,000 remaining unpaid to date. Speaking about the SRIS, which was implemented in April 2025, Traffic Chief and Assistant Commissioner of Police Mahendra Singh stated, “The Safe Road Intelligence System, which is based on an amendment of the law in 2024, the Motor Vehicle and Road Traffic Act, and its full rollout from April 7, 2025 until now, there are more than 70,000 tickets issued by that Safe Road Intelligence System. “There are more than 38,000 of those tickets paid already, amounting to millions of dollars. Now, unpaid tickets are drivers or owners who did not honour the obligation to pay the tickets. They are notified by means of an SMS, an electronic notice.”

Further, he added that some 72,000 cases have been filed across Guyana’s magisterial districts, with approximately 51 per cent resulting in convictions this year, while the remaining matters are either still before the courts or have been dismissed due to insufficient evidence or procedural issues. “So, let me be very frank and tell you, about 72,000 cases have been filed across the country in each magisterial district. We have about a 51 per cent conviction rate of those cases. The remainder are before the courts now, presently still gaining their attention, and some of which were actually thrown out of the court for maybe lack of evidence or insufficient procedural attention.”

Asked whether the 51 per cent conviction rate applied to this year alone, Singh said the figure could be considered favourable. “It could be more. Naturally, it should be more because expectation is one thing as opposed to what actually reveals. We do have constraints that are beyond us. In some Magistrates’ courts, they have a rationing system in terms of how many matters they would hear per day – 25 – and cases per day made ranges in about 500.” He also disclosed that 37 drivers have had their licences suspended or revoked this year while attributing the action to the deployment of technology and the seriousness of offences such as dangerous driving and speeding. According to Singh, some drivers have been suspended by the courts for periods ranging from six to 12 months.