James McKenzie, the driver of the Route 40 bus whose windows were reportedly refitted with dark tinting after they had been stripped off by police, was charged last Thursday.
Traffic Chief Dion Moore yesterday told Stabroek News that McKenzie, the driver of BRR 5635, was faced with two traffic charges.
McKenzie was charged with driving a tinted motor vehicle while not being the holder of a permit and he was fined $7,500 after pleading guilty. He was also charged with being in breach of the road user’s licence, to which he pleaded not guilty.
Moore explained that the police had warned the operators of the minibus on the first occasion they noticed it on the road. “A few days after he was spotted again and he was arrested, placed on bail and the bus was examined and the tints were removed,” he stated.
According to Moore, the traffic department is closely monitoring vehicles used for public transportation for tinted windows.
He noted that they have removed tinting from several vehicles, while adding that they have granted a certain amount of time to owners of minibuses that came with factory tints to replace the windows. “We noticed minibuses being imported with it, factory-made tint, and those with factory-made tint, upon importation and registration, they were granted a period in which they would have to change those glasses,” he explained.
He noted that persons who do not change their tinted windows would not be issued with road service licences, while the operators of buses who are caught putting on tints at shops would be charged.
