Taxi driver with 54 traffic breaches stripped of licenceMonday, February 13, 2012MONTEGO BAY, St James — A Montego Bay taxi driver who racked up over 50 traffic breaches over a 22-month period heads back to court tomorrow to face the prospect of even more charges being added to the list.
Fifty-year-old George Eccleston, of a Farm Heights address in the parish, admitted in the Montego Bay Resident Magistrates court last Thursday that he had a slew of traffic breaches against him spanning the period February 2009 to December 2011. He had been hauled into court on a warrant.
The driver, who plies a route between the Montego Bay Transport Centre to Freeport, was cited on 54 counts. They include obstructing traffic, operating a motor vehicle contrary to its road licence, not wearing a seat belt, disobeying a traffic light, disobeying a no stopping sign, failure to use the transport centre, disobeying a no parking sign, double parking, operating a vehicle without proper fitness, excess passengers — having 10 persons in his car at one time — improper parking, and disobeying a No U-turn sign.
He was fined a total of $86,000 and had his driver's licence disqualified after he was docked 42 penalty points by Resident Magistrate Winsome Henry.
He was given three months to pay off the fines after asking for time.
A clearly distraught Eccleston, who told the court he had paid some of the tickets over the period, also begged for leniency, saying he was unable to pay his fines as he was also facing the Family Court in a child maintenance case.
Early in the proceedings he had to be asked several times to stop talking over the judge and prosecutor, upon which Eccleston admitted he was "frightened to hear about all these tickets", and also that he was nervous.”
This failed to move RM Henry who labelled him "a bad father and a disgrace and a nuisance on the road and having scant regard for the law."
"You will not be driving home tonight as with all those penalty points coming off your licence, you will be disqualified from driving for the next 12 months," she added.
Eccleston told the court that he had no education and no means of earning a living if he was not allowed to drive.
"I will die because I have no other work to do, this is what feed me and my family," he said.
He told the court that he did not own the car he drove and had to pay the owners $15,000 each week to use it. He said he also had rent to pay and had his wife and family to take care of.
RM Henry dismissed his laments, reminding him that she had been lenient as on some charges she could have fined him up to $5,000.
Source; http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/news/Tax ... e_10744059
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