THURSDAY, March 28, 2024
nationthailand

New traffic tickets provide option to deny offence, pay at multiple outlets

New traffic tickets provide option to deny offence, pay at multiple outlets

STARTING yesterday, motorists have a new way of challenging traffic tickets – by denying the offence.

The new tickets issued by traffic police in Bangkok have a checkbox that allows motorists to contest the charges. 
“If they think they did nothing wrong, they can go to investigators or on-duty traffic police officers with the tickets and issue a denial,” Deputy Metropolitan Police Commissioner Pol Maj-General Jirapat Phumjit said. He added that the new tickets also contained a barcode and offered various payment methods. 
Motorists can pay fines at any Krungthai Bank branch, any ATM, via Internet banking services or other service outlets – instead of having to go to police stations or post offices. But they will have to pay a Bt20 fee on top of the fine if they do not go directly to a police station. 
The new-style tickets are available in areas under the jurisdictions of the Metropolitan Police Bureau and the Provincial Police Regions 1, 2 and 7 headquarters. 
The launch is a part of the Police Ticket Management (PTM) project, said Pol Maj-General Ekkarak Limsangkat, the commander of the 3rd Special Branch Bureau who is leading the project.
The new tickets feature a barcode and checkboxes for identifying traffic violations in Thai and English. Previously, the offences were written down on tickets by issuing police.
Motorists are required to pay their fines within seven days after receiving tickets.
They have the option of paying in cash at a police station straightaway or waiting two days for the tickets to be registered in the project's system, after which they can pay at their bank branch, ATMs, Krungthai Bank’s NetBank mobile app or other places where the PTM logo is publicly displayed. 
If a driver’s licence is seized at the time the ticket is issued, payments cannot be made at the state bank.
Police have been instructed to inform motorists about the new tickets and how to pay fines.
They plan to share their ticket database with the Land Transport Department so that the latter can temporarily suspend the annual vehicle tax payment of motorists who fail to pay their fines.
Police have promised to strictly enforce traffic regulations during the holiday season and have said they will be on alert for suspected drunk drivers.
Jirapat also said traffic police in Bangkok starting today would seize motorcycles from motorcyclists who were not wearing helmets. 
“We will return their vehicles once they put on helmets,” he said. 
He said that until December 24, traffic police in Bangkok would not fine motorcyclists who failed to wear helmets but would seize their vehicles to force them to pay more attention to their road safety.
“But after December 25, we will not only seize their vehicles but also fine them Bt1,000,” he added.
Jirapat said his office intended to ensure all motorcyclists and their passengers wear crash helmets for the sake of safety. 
“Failure to put on the helmet is a traffic offence. It’s also a common cause of road casualties,” he said. “We will strictly enforce traffic laws so as to reduce the road toll.” 
 

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