In two weeks, Works and Transport Minister Rohan Sinanan will take to Cabinet a note relating to the current speed limit on the nation’s highways.
But the Minister refused to give any details on whether there was a proposal to increase the limit from 80 kmph.
“In two weeks I will take the speed limit to Cabinet. Let us not jump the gun on Cabinet,” Sinanan said, in a telephone interview on Monday.
Sinanan said the country would be informed after Cabinet discussed the issue.
The T&T Police Service had recommended an increase in the 80 kmph speed limit for motorists on the nation’s highways.
The proposal to increase the speed limit followed an online petition by lobby group Safe Drivers for Efficiency earlier this year for the speed limit to move from 80 kmph to 120 kmph.
The maximum speed limit for pickup trucks is 65 kmph.
The Motor Vehicles and Road Traffic Act (d) states that “Goods vehicle the licensed MGW (Maximum Gross Weight) of which exceeds 2,540 kilogrammes (kgs) with or without trailer” has a maximum speed of 65 kmph outside a built-up area and 50 kmph “within a built-up area.”
Tractors are subject to a maximum speed limit of 35 kmph outside a built-up area and 20 kmph within a built-up area.
In May, then acting Prime Minister Colm Imbert, at a post-Cabinet media briefing, said Government was considering raising the speed limit to 100 kilometres per hour.
By early 2017, Sinanan said he intends to fast-track the legislative agenda to minimise the carnage on the nation’s roads.
Sinanan said last Saturday he met with a team from the ministry who worked “to fast-track the legislative agenda to get everything in place.”
“We are pushing on to get this legislative agenda for the first quarter of next year to reduce the road deaths.”
Sinanan said the ministry was in the process of issuing tenders for the purchase of nine speed guns, would would bring the total to 15.
President of Arrive Alive Sharon Inglefield welcomed Sinanan’s initiatives since they act as preventative measures to save lives.
“However, we also believe in drivers’ education to include defensive driving as part of a transparent licensing system. Particularly when most of the victims are young men,” Inglefield said.
NEW MEASURES
•Establishing an uninterrupted power supply for traffic signals
•Upgrading obsolete traffic signal control equipment
• Red light enforcement legislation
•Installing nine spot speed enforcement cameras
•Assisting the TTPS with the procurement of additional speed guns
•Installation of the Demerit Point System.