Drivers across Saint Lucia are being put on notice. The Department of Transport, together with the Royal Saint Lucia Police Force, is moving closer to implementing the long-discussed demerit point system designed to track traffic offences and penalise repeat offenders.
Although the legal framework has existed for years under Section 179 of the Motor Vehicles and Road Traffic Act, the system has never been fully applied. Now, amid a worrying rise in road accidents and fatal collisions in recent years, authorities say the time for action has come.
Officials from both agencies have been engaged in ongoing discussions to address the administrative and regulatory hurdles that previously stalled implementation. Any necessary adjustments, whether through regulation or statutory amendment, are expected to be finalised before the system officially takes effect.
Superintendent of Road Safety and Traffic Investigations, Troy Lamontagne, made it clear that the system will target repeat offenders.
“Drivers who are committing repeated offences on the road – being convicted of crimes, whether it be via ticket or before a magistrate in the court, you will be losing points and after a certain number of points, you will not be able to drive. Either your licence will be suspended, or you will lose it,” Lamontagne explained.
Under the act, offences that attract demerit points are outlined in Schedule 2. Serious violations commonly linked to collisions carry the highest penalties. Dangerous driving, failing to stop after an accident, and not reporting an accident involving injury each attract seven demerit points. Excessive speeding and failing to obey traffic signals also carry significant penalties.
The system is cumulative, meaning consequences increase as points add up.
Where a driver accumulates more than 10 but fewer than 14 points within two years, the Licensing Authority shall send a notice informing the driver of the demerit points recorded.
At higher thresholds, suspension becomes mandatory. “If, within a period of one year, a total of 10 or more demerit points have accumulated… the Licensing Authority shall suspend the driver’s license… for a period of 6 months,” the act says.
Where 18 or more points accumulate over a longer period, the suspension increases to one year.
Driving while suspended under the demerit system would in itself constitute a criminal offence. The legislation states that a driver who does so “is liable… to a fine not exceeding $2,000 or to imprisonment… not exceeding 6 months or to both.”
At a recent media engagement, St. Lucia Times questioned Senior Minister Stephenson King, who oversees transport, about the status of the long-delayed system.
King acknowledged that the measure has been discussed for years but said the moment demands firm action.
“The demerit system is one that certainly needs attention. We have been talking about it but now the time has come to stop talking and to act and to deal with it,” he said.
