At a weekly press briefing hosted at the Port of Spain Police Administration Building by the Trinidad and Tobago Police Service (TTPS) yesterday, traffic leadership unveiled sweeping 2026 year-to-date enforcement statistics alongside updates to road safety operations and parking compliance policies. Leading the briefing were Acting Superintendent Kevin Martin of the Traffic and Highway Patrol Branch, Acting Inspector Jesse Jitmohan, and Police Road Safety Coordinator Sergeant Brent Batson.
The most notable enforcement metric shared was 4,795 citations issued to motorists operating vehicles without valid active insurance so far this year. Under current local traffic regulations, each uninsured driving offence carries a maximum possible fine of $10,000, which would theoretically add up to $47.95 million in total penalties. Sergeant Batson was quick to contextualize that figure, emphasizing that the sum only represents a hypothetical maximum, not a guaranteed revenue target, as a portion of cited drivers are expected to contest their tickets in court rather than pay the full penalty.
Beyond uninsured driving, Acting Superintendent Martin laid out a full breakdown of 2026’s top traffic violation ticket volumes: 17,280 citations for ignoring posted traffic signs, 12,409 for failure to fasten seatbelts, 10,363 for operating vehicles without valid up-to-date inspection certificates, 6,637 for handheld mobile phone use while driving, 4,895 for non-compliant excessively dark window tint, 4,190 for speeding, 2,696 for unsafe improper overtaking, 2,507 for driving with defective, worn-out tyres, and 2,454 for running red lights or disregarding traffic signal instructions. Martin also highlighted a notable 22% year-over-year drop in road fatalities for the January 1 to November 3 comparison window: 91 lives were lost to road crashes in the same period in 2025, while that number fell to 71 in 2026, a trend local police attribute to sustained targeted enforcement efforts.
The briefing also confirmed that after a months-long pause, TTPS has formally resumed its vehicle wrecking and towing operations for illegally parked cars across Port of Spain and the adjacent Woodbrook neighbourhood. A senior Port of Spain Division officer confirmed the long suspension was triggered by the lack of a secure, appropriately zoned storage facility for impounded vehicles, and operations restarted immediately after a suitable new holding site was secured. The new towing schedule specifies that in downtown Port of Spain, illegally parked vehicles will be removed on weekdays (Monday to Friday) between 9 a.m. and 3 p.m., with owners required to pay a $500 retrieval fine and show valid proof of insurance to reclaim their vehicles at the St James Police Academy. In Woodbrook, towing runs on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday evenings from 6 p.m. to 2 a.m., with all impounded vehicles held for collection directly at the Woodbrook Police Station.
In response to growing public outcry over perceived preferential parking treatment for protective services personnel, Acting Superintendent Martin explicitly rejected accusations of double standards in enforcement. Local residents had raised repeated concerns about vehicles marked with “POLICE” signage parked on both sides of narrow Port of Spain streets, a practice that blocks emergency response access for ambulances, fire trucks, and police cruisers. Martin stated clearly, “We wreck cars, not people, and vehicles parked in contravention of the nation’s laws will be removed, no matter who owns them.” He did note that limited discretion will be applied for unmarked official police vehicles that are temporarily parked as part of active, ongoing undercover investigations, but added that the TTPS is actively discouraging all uniformed and plainclothes officers from improper double-sided street parking to avoid obstructing public thoroughfares.