Easy access at the tip of your fingers, subscribe to our daily ePaper version of our New Era Newspaper.
Home / 14,000 warrants of arrest for road offenders
14,000 warrants of arrest for road offenders
2017-07-24Staff Report 2 Maria Amakali Windhoek-The Windhoek Magistrate’s Court has issued more than 14,000 warrants of arrest against suspected road offenders who failed to make an appearance in court, or failed to pay their admission of guilt fines, in Windhoek. According to statistics obtained from the court, situated in Lüderitz Street, the special Traffic Court issued 14,931 warrants of arrest for traffic offenders between January and June this year. “The warrants of arrest are because the offenders have not paid the fines for traffic offences or were summoned to appear in court on a specific date indicated on the fine tickets, but failed to do so,” said an officer from the Traffic Court who cannot be named because he is not authorised to speak to the media. The statistics further indicate that during the first six months of every year the Traffic Court issues up to 18,000 warrants of arrest for motorists who have violated traffic laws but failed to pay admission of guilt fines. Last year a total of 31,395 warrants of arrest were issued against Windhoek traffic offenders, which is a slight increase compared to 23,912 warrants issued in 2015. The fines for offenders found guilty by the court range from as a little as N$250 to N$5,000, depending on the offence committed. According to the traffic police although statistics are available, the system has not calculated the total due by traffic offenders. “It seems that people are not afraid to pay huge fines – we had one individual on an occasion paying a total of N$12,000 in traffic fines because of multiple offences,” said the source. Traffic offences range from talking on a cellphone while driving to driving without a seatbelt, reckless or negligent driving, driving a vehicle that is not roadworthy, parking on space designated for the disabled, speeding, failure to stop at a red traffic light and failure to stop at a stop sign. 2017-07-24Staff Report 2
