BASSETERRE, St. Kitts-THE passage of two critical amendments to the Vehicles and Road Traffic Act on January 6 will soon have motorists in the Federation either practicing safer driving habits or paying fines to government coffers.

The swiftly passed amendments were first presented before a Sitting of the National Assembly on November 11, 2008, and will require the Federation’s motorists to always wear seat belts when operating a motor vehicle as well as prohibit the use of cellular phones while driving.

According to the Acting Head of the Police Traffic Department, Sergeant Carl Caines, the new laws are intended to make the roadways of St. Kitts-Nevis safer, and a considerable amount of time is going to be spent “educating” the public before the first ticket is ever written.

“We’re looking at maybe in June to begin enforcing the law, but right now we’re focusing on trying to educate the public and get the awareness level up.”

Caines said that the Traffic Department would use the coming months to put up flyers, speak on radio programmes and air public service announcements advising drivers about the new laws.

Regarding the specifics of the amendments, he stated that all persons in the front seat of a vehicle would be required to wear a seat belt, including children “as long as it fits them properly”. He noted that children under 40lbs should be secured in a car seat while travelling.

“With respect to the mobile phones, we don’t foresee that hands-free ear pieces will be a problem. I don’t want to say too much at this time because we have not seen a draft of the law, but I don’t think it should be a problem,” Caines said when asked if the amendments banned cellular phones entirely.

Specifics on penalties and how much each of the new fines will cost violating motorists are not available at this time.

A recent government press release stated that the new laws were part of an initiative to “crack down on general lawlessness and disorder in society”.

The release further stated that all traffic laws are expected to come under stricter enforcement in 2009.