Panama: ATTT Adds Checkpoints, Steps up Ticketing

ATTT Adds Checkpoints, Steps up Ticketing

Story La Prensa

Traffic police handed out a total of 112 tickets Monday during a series of surprise inspections east of the capital.

Some 30 drivers were ticketed near the Riande Airport Hotel on Juan Díaz Road for carrying licenses that did not match the vehicle driven.

la prensa

Traffic police and ATTT agents have stepped up ticketing of drivers and vehicles that violate transit regulations.

At other points in the area, including Cabimas and Las Garzas of Pacora, several drivers were stopped for other traffic violations, including speeding.

Sandra Escorcia, director of the country's transportation authority, ATTT, explained that the ticketing was not part of a special operation, but represented routine checkpoints throughout the metropolitan area begun the day after the presidential inauguration.

In fact, Escorcia explained that 254 tickets were given to public buses by ATTT officials between July 20 and 24. The most common causes in this period were inadequate use of headlights, lack of safety equipment and flat tires.

However, as ticketing has increased, so has the amount of money owed to the entity in unpaid fines. Escorcia reported that nearly $3 million in fines is currently outstanding. Of that total, fines on construction trucks represent $171,000.


Meanwhile, the death of 25 persons people following last week's tragic accident near Pacora has awakened an old dispute over the installation of speed governors, as called for by the Martinelli administration. Though traffic regulations ordered their installation in public buses and heavy equipment during the Torrijos administration, the law was never fulfilled.

Dionisio Ortega, president of Chamber of Transportation, said members have agreed with that the devices are needed and are currently analyzing how they should be installed.