In the wake of several gruesome road fatalities and a public outcry calling on relevant Government agencies to act quickly and deal decisively with the issue of road safety, police have finally initiated a crackdown on a decades-old bribery racket at the nation’s licencing offices.

Over the last two weeks, police seized several drivers’ permits belonging to individuals suspected of having paid bribes to obtain them.

Last Monday, the crackdown continued with the arrest of a driving instructor for accepting a bribe to ensure that his client obtained a permit regardless of the results of the driver’s test.

The arrest was made in a police sting operation at the Chaguanas Licencing Office when the instructor accepted $500 from a close relative of one of his clients.

The suspect appeared before a Justice of the Peace the same day charged with falsely obtaining the money. The crackdown follows several high profile vehicular accidents in recent times all involving multiple fatalities.

Police are also searching for two “hit and run” drivers. The driver of a “black pickup truck” did not stop when he or she struck and killed 17-year-old Jenna Phillip last weekend.

Phillip’s younger sister Nikita, 13, was also injured by the hit and run driver. The driver of a dark vehicle is also being sought in connection with a recent accident in which four teenagers met their deaths.

The high number of road deaths in recent times has been linked to high levels of corruption in the country’s licencing offices.

For decades, it has been possible for persons to obtain drivers’ permits through bribery, and without sitting or passing the required tests. Some deviant driving instructors, with the help of corrupt Licensing Division employees have also been victimising legitimate applicants for drivers’ permits.

Mirror Weekend was also told that that money is demanded even from persons who complete driving lessons and can drive.“When they ask you for money and you don’t pay up, they fail you in the yard no matter how good you could drive,” said one angry applicant.

Apart from the crackdown on corrupt practices in licencing offices, Government is also looking at other measures to reduce carnage on the nation’s roads.

Police have started limited use of the Breathalyser to detect persons driving under the influence of alcohol, and there are plans to raise the minimum age at which a person could apply for a permit from 17 years to 21 years.