MEMBERS of the joint services will not be spared in the renewed approach to the zero tolerance campaign by the Guyana Police Force (GPF) against those vehicles bearing tinted windows particularly in “A” Division.

This was assured by the Traffic Officer Ramesh Ashram and Commander Clifton Hicken of “A” Division.
According to the senior officers many of the accidents which occurred in the Division involved vehicles which were either heavily tinted or was fitted with some level of tint without having the required permit.
The police are of the view that tint on vehicles does impair the vision of drivers especially when they encounter junctions and cross streets at nights and fail to roll their windows down to afford clearer vision of oncoming traffic and pedestrians.
It was pointed out that when vehicles bear tint it becomes hard for the driver to see oncoming traffic with their headlamps on, much less a motor cycle which has a lower head lamp than a four-wheel vehicle and it even gets worse to encounter pedestrians or pedal cycles without lights.
According to Ashram, the campaign would also be meted out to those serving members of the joint services especially constables who believe that they have the right to traverse in vehicles with tinted windows because they are part of the armed forces.
“We will stop you and once you have a tint on the vehicle you will be made to strip it off if you do not have the permit from the Ministry of Home Affairs and this is not for civilians alone, it’s also for police officers especially junior ranks and constables”
The Traffic Officer also pointed out that they are prepared for those persons who will attempt to use their privileges and links to make calls to persons higher than a police who may stop them and order them to strip the tint, in those cases, the drivers will be asked to proceed to the nearest police station within the Division and the certificate of fitness would be revoked until the tint is removed.
If the driver is ever stopped again or observed using the vehicle during the period that the certification has been revoked he or she will be charged with driving an uncertified vehicle.
Meanwhile, Commander Hicken explained that the decision was arrived to ensure that there was no letting up of the campaign because of the many lives which continue to be lost on the roads and also said that the campaign also forms part of the general anti-crime strategy since there are times when persons of questionable characters used tinted vehicle to traverse the city and other parts of the country undetected as lawmen are unable to see their identity through the dark-window vehicles.
The Guyana Chronicle was told that the tinting of windows of vehicles also makes it harder for the driver of other vehicles to predict the actions of the driver in front of him or her as was common practice decades ago before the fuss and obsession of tints of vehicles.
Hicken said that the police will not be harassing persons during the campaign and pointed out that when drivers with dark windows are stopped and they do not have the permit they would not be detained at stations but rather escorted there just to facilitate the removing of the tint and sent away. In cases where they fail to comply then the Traffic Department would revoke the fitness of the said vehicle until the conformity by the driver.

(By Leroy Smith)