Two notorious drivers who caused
havoc on the roads recently will appear in the Show Cause Disciplinary Hearing
on April 27th to justify why the Land Transport Authority must not
suspend or cancel their driving license.
Appearing before LTA Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Naisa Tuinaceva will be the 40-year-old
driver who almost caused a catastrophic chemical spill in Wainibuka River when
the truck which was carrying a consignment of Sodium Cyanide veered off-road at
Savuliliwa Wailotua Kings Roads in Wainibuka, crashing into a stream early last
month.
The Authority has booked the driver for driving a motor vehicle carrying
hazardous material without a Dangerous Goods License. LTA has also suspended his
employer’s (a heavy haulage company) Dangerous Goods Permit for one year for
breaching the conditions of the Dangerous Goods Permit (the company was found
guilty of allowing the driver to carry hazardous material without a valid
Dangerous Goods License).
The second case of Show Cause involves the 51-year-old driver who was driving
the truck from which a container fell onto a vehicle in Edinburgh Drive in Suva
earlier this month. LTA has put his driving license on freeze, meaning he
cannot drive a motor vehicle until further notice.
Meanwhile, 31 drivers (both
Public Service Vehicle and private driving license holders) have appeared in
the Show Cause in the first quarter of this year – the youngest being a 17-year-old
while the oldest was aged 62.
The 17-year-old who holds a Provisional driving license was issued a final
warning for not complying with the conditions of the provisional driving
license, and he can lose his provisional driving license should he reoffend
within the next 12 months. His offences include exceeding the speed limit and
driving without a driving license.
Twenty-nine other drivers were issued final warning while the driving license
of a Western Division based driver was suspended for 11 months for committing
multiple traffic offences. The majority of the drivers were in their 30s while
some were in their 20s, mid 40s, 50s and two were in their early sixties.
Mr. Tuinaceva said the
Authority wants to ensure that people can travel on the road without fearing
for their lives and the lives of their loved ones, hence the reason for the
monthly show cause.
“Bread and butter issues should be treasured but these drivers have shown they
don’t care and that is why we are taking them to task,” said Mr. Tuinaceva. “If
a driver is a habitual offender, it shows that the person can’t learn from
previous bookings, and he is not fit to drive. These are the type of people we
are trying to remove from our roads because they are disrespectful and do not
value human lives.”
Speeding, dangerous driving,
reckless/careless driving, use of mobile phone while driving, driving a
defective vehicle, failure to wear seatbelt while driving, running the red
light are some of the major offences that are being committed on our roads.
LTA is committed to removing
notorious drivers from our roads.
The public is encouraged to
report bad driver behavior on free texting code 582 or via email infor@lta.com.fj .