BY JENNIFER KUSAPA
PRINCIPAL Magistrate Jim Seuika has again reminded drivers that it is their duty to know that vehicles they are driving are road-worthy and are validly licensed.
He said this in court yesterday when he made his ruling on the case against a man charged for driving an unlicensed vehicle.
Richard Namoriu pleaded guilty to the charge of driving an unlicensed vehicle relating to an incident which occurred on January 24 at the Kukum highway.
Police said the incident occurred around mid-afternoon of that date and Mr Namoriu was driving in the easterly direction; police stopped the vehicle and checked its registration and licence, but was found to have been expired on November 30, 2017.
Police then charged the driver and also the owner of the vehicle for permitting Namoriu to drive the vehicle.
Mr Seuika said the maximum penalty for driving unlicensed vehicle under the 2009 Traffic amendment Act is $5000 and this shows how the court is serious on traffic cases.
He said drivers and owners of vehicles must be aware that every vehicle and driver must have a valid licence.
He said in Namoriu’s case he had a valid driving licence but the vehicle he drove was expired, and it is his duty to know that the vehicle is licensed valid or not.
While considering Namoriu’s early guilty plea and saying that he was not aware whether the vehicle licence was expired, Seuika said he will impose a penalty that will deter others from committing such offence and he imposed a fine of $700 on the accused to be paid by yesterday.
He then made an order that failure to pay up the fine will result in imprisonment.
Police Prosecutor Ethel Maeue is prosecuting the case in court.
