Transport Commissioner Clive Clarke urged motorists to obey posted speed limits, warning that fines increase with the severity of the violation and can reach into the thousands of dollars. He said the new technology will make it harder for drivers to claim they were unfairly targeted, as each citation will be backed by digital evidence. Officials said the initial sites for the 20 devices were selected based on crash data, speeding patterns and traffic volume, with more locations under consideration as the program is evaluated.  

Minister of Transport and Civil Aviation Eli Zakour framed the rollout as a safety measure rather than a revenue-raising tool, saying the main objective is to deter speeding and prevent crashes. She said that when motorists know their speed can be detected at any time, behavior changes — and “when behavior changes, lives are saved.” Authorities hope that as drivers become aware of the system and its capabilities, they will slow down long before they see a camera or a police vehicle, aligning Trinidad and Tobago with a growing number of jurisdictions using automated, evidence-based enforcement to curb dangerous driving. 

The LIDAR speed enforcement devices were officially launched along the Audrey Jeffers Highway lay-by near the foreshore on Tuesday morning.