ARRANGEMENT OF SECTIONS

PART I
PRELIMINARY

SECTION

PART II
THE ROAD TRAFFIC AUTHORITY

PART III
PROTECTION OF THIRD PARTIES AGAINST RISKS ARISING OUT OF THE USE OF
MOTOR VEHICLES

PART IV
REGULATION, REGISTRATION AND LICENSING OF MOTOR VEHICLES

PART V
PROVISIONS AS TO DRIVING MOTOR VEHICLES, ETC.

Provisions as to Driving and Offences in connection therewith

PART VI
FRANCHISES AND LICENCES TO CARRY PASSENGERS FOR HIRE OR REWARD

Taxi-cab, Livery Car and Self-drive Vehicle Licences

Special Provisions relating to Taxi-cabs

Special Provisions relating to Livery Cars

Omnibus, Tour Car and Self-drive Vehicle Franchises

PART VII
STREET AND TRAFFIC REGULATION

PART VIII
MISCELLANEOUS AND GENERAL

SCHEDULE - Fees.

CHAPTER 220

ROAD TRAFFIC

[Assent 18th September, 1958.
[Commencement [i]*]

"Assistant Controller" means any Assistant Controller of Road Traffic appointed under this Act;

"Authority" means the Road Traffic Authority appointed under this Act;

"Controller" means the Controller of Road Traffic appointed under this Act, and any interim Controller so appointed, and includes any Assistant Controller so appointed who is authorised by the Controller or by the interim Controller to act on his behalf;

"Department" means the Road Traffic Department established under this Act;

"enactment" includes any Act and any order, regulations or rules made under any Act;

"franchise" means a franchise granted under this Act;

"invalid carriage" means a motor vehicle the weight of which unladen does not exceed five hundredweight which is specially designed and constructed, and not merely adapted, for the use of persons suffering from some physical defect or disability, and which is used solely by such a person;

"livery car" means a motor vehicle having a seating capacity for not more than twelve passengers, which is hired out by the owner for reward, for the purposes of being driven for the exclusive use of the hirer and which is driven by a chauffeur who is, or is employed by, the owner;

"Minister" means the Minister responsible for Road Traffic;

"motorcycle" means a motor vehicle with less than four wheels, the weight of which unladen does not exceed eight hundredweight;

"motor vehicle" means a vehicle which is wholly or partially propelled by mechanical means and which is designed or adapted for use on roads;

"omnibus" means every passenger vehicle having a seating capacity for more than twelve passengers, and any motor vehicle licensed as an omnibus which carries passengers for hire or reward:

Provided that a stretch-out which is lawfully being used as a tour car during the period of five years following the commencement of this Act, shall not be deemed to be an omnibus while it is being so used;

"owner" in relation to any motor vehicle means the person by whom or on whose behalf the vehicle is normally kept and used, and in the case of a vehicle which is the subject of a hiring agreement or hire purchase agreement, means the person in possession of that vehicle under that agreement;

"passenger vehicle" means a motor vehicle designed or adapted for the primary purpose of carrying passengers;

"public service vehicle" means a motor vehicle designed or adapted for the carriage of passengers which is either-

"police officer" includes any police officer, constable or other person having the powers of a police officer;

"prearranged journey" means a journey by a passenger which has been arranged by or on behalf of that passenger before the day on which the journey occurs;

"prearranged transfer" means a journey by a passenger between any airport or dock and any hotel, proprietary club, or guest house at which the passenger proposes to spend the next night, or between any hotel, proprietary club or guest house at which the passenger has spent the previous night and any airport or dock, either being a journey which has been arranged by or on behalf of that passenger before the day on which the journey occurs or being a journey by a passenger holding a coupon from an organised travel agency or transportation company situated outside The Bahamas;

"private motor vehicle" means any motor vehicle other than an omnibus, a taxi-cab, a tour car, a livery car or a self-drive vehicle;

"register" means the register or registers kept by the Controller under this Act, and "registered" means registered in that register or those registers;

"regulations" means regulations made under this Act and in the manner provided by this Act;

"road" means any highway and any other road to which the public has access, and includes any part of a road and any bridge over which a road passes;

"self-drive vehicle" means a motor vehicle having a seating capacity for not more than nine passengers which is hired out by the owner for reward for the purpose of being driven and used by the hirer exclusively for his own purposes;

"stretch-out" means a conventional motor vehicle which has been elongated to increase the seating capacity to a maximum of eleven passengers;

"supervisor" means a supervisor of road traffic appointed under this Act;

"taxi-cab" means a motor vehicle having a seating capacity for not more than twelve passengers which stands or plies for hire and which is driven by the owner or by a person employed by the owner;

"tour car" means a motor vehicle having a seating capacity for not more than twelve passengers which carries passengers for hire or reward on sightseeing tours or on prearranged transfers and which is driven by the owner or by a person employed by the owner:

Provided that a stretch-out which was in The Bahamas before the thirtieth day of January 1958 may be used as a tour car during the period of five years following the commencement of this Act, and this definition shall be construed accordingly;

"trailer" means a vehicle drawn by a motor vehicle.

(2) For the purposes of this Act-

Provided that the Controller may give oral or written permission for the occasional carriage of a paying guest or member on the ground that he is a distinguished visitor or for some other special reason, in a private motor vehicle owned or operated as aforesaid, and any carriage so permitted shall not be deemed to be a carriage for hire or reward;

Provided that the carriage of any workman who does not make any payment therefor on any journey to or from his place of work or for or in connection with his work, in a motor vehicle owned or hired by his employer, and driven by his employer, or by anyone employed by his employer, or on his behalf, shall not be deemed to be a carriage for hire or reward.

(3) Any reference in this Act to the public includes a reference to tourists and to visitors to The Bahamas.

Provided that no person shall be qualified to be appointed or to hold office as a member of the Authority if-

(2) The Governor-General shall appoint one of the members of the Authority to be Chairman and another member to be Vice Chairman.

(3) Any three members of the Authority including the Chairman or Vice Chairman shall constitute a quorum. Where on any question the members of the Authority are not unanimous, the opinion of the majority shall prevail and in the event of an equality of votes the member presiding shall have and exercise a casting vote. Subject to the provisions of this Act, the Authority may make standing orders regulating its own procedure.

(4) In the exercise of his powers under this section the Governor-General shall act on the advice of the Prime Minister.

(5) The application of the seal of the Authority shall be authenticated by the signature of the Chairman or Vice Chairman and two other members.

(6) Every document purporting to be an instrument issued by the Authority and to be sealed as aforesaid or to be signed on behalf of the Authority, shall be received in evidence and shall be deemed to be such an instrument without proof unless the contrary is shown.

(2) The register shall contain a record of all of the following-

(3) The register may contain such other records and particulars as the Minister may from time to time determine.

(4) Upon payment of a fee of one dollar for each page, any person shall be entitled to be given a typed copy of any of the information contained in the records referred to in subsection (2) of this section.

(5) A copy of any part of the register purporting to be certified by the Controller to be a true copy, shall be deemed to be such a true copy without proof unless the contrary is shown, and shall be received in evidence in any court without there being required to be produced the register or any licence or other document which would be evidence of the matter sought to be proved by such certified copy, and any person applying to the Controller shall be furnished with such a certified copy on payment of a fee of two dollars and fifty cents for each page.

(2) Any person who acts in contravention of subsection (1) of this section shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on summary conviction to a fine of four hundred dollars or to imprisonment for a term of three months, or to both such fine and imprisonment.

(3) The court by which a person is convicted of an offence under subsection (1) of this section shall (unless the court finding exceptional mitigating circumstances thinks fit to order otherwise and without prejudice to the power of the court to order a longer period of suspension or disqualification)-

(4) Any person so convicted and in relation to whom such an order has been made shall produce any motor vehicle driver's licence or public service vehicle licence which is held by him and to which that order relates to the court by which he was convicted within such time as the court may direct.

(5) The court by which any order is made shall forthwith inform the Controller and shall send to him every suspended or cancelled licence; and at the expiration of the period of suspension the Controller shall return the licence to the owner at his request.

(6) Where on appeal to the Supreme Court against any such order the appeal is allowed, or where on appeal any such conviction as aforesaid is quashed, then the Supreme Court shall forthwith inform the Controller of the allowance of the appeal against the order or, as the case may be, of the quashing of the conviction.

(7) Notwithstanding any enactment prescribing a time within which proceedings may be brought before a court of summary jurisdiction, proceedings for an offence under subsection (1) of this section may be brought-

(8) This section shall not apply in relation to any vehicle belonging to the Crown.

Provided that for the purposes of securing that there is in force in relation to the user of every motor vehicle temporarily brought into The Bahamas a policy of insurance against third-party risks-

Provided that such policy shall not be required to cover liability in respect of any sum in excess of eight hundred dollars arising out of any one claim by any one passenger in respect of loss of or damage to his luggage or personal property; and

Provided that such a policy shall not be required to cover-

(2) Where any payment is made by an authorised insurer under a policy issued under this Part of this Act, in respect of the death of, or bodily injury to, any person arising out of the use of a motor vehicle on a road, and the person who has so died or been bodily injured has to the knowledge of the authorised insurer received treatment in a hospital in respect of the fatal or other bodily injury so arising, there shall also be paid by the authorised insurer to such hospital the expenses reasonably incurred by the hospital in affording such treatment to an amount not exceeding four hundred dollars for each person so treated.

(3) Notwithstanding anything in any enactment a person issuing a policy of insurance under this section shall be liable to indemnify the persons or classes of persons specified in the policy in respect of any liability which the policy purports to cover in the case of those persons or classes of persons.

(4) A policy shall be of no effect for the purposes of this Act unless and until there is issued by the authorised insurer in favour of the person by whom the policy is effected a certificate (in this Act referred to as a "certificate of insurance") in the prescribed form and containing such particulars of any conditions subject to which the policy is issued and of any other matters as may be prescribed, and different forms and different particulars may be prescribed in relation to different cases or circumstances, by regulations made by the Minister under this Act, and in the absence of any such regulations, then by the Controller.

(5) In this Act-

Provided that nothing in this section shall be taken to render void any provision in a policy requiring the person insured to repay to the insurer any sums which the insurer may have become' liable to pay under the policy and which have been applied to the satisfaction of the claims of third parties.

(2) No sum shall be payable by an insurer under the provisions of subsection (1) of this section-

(3) No sum shall be payable by an insurer under the foregoing provisions of this section if, in an action commenced before, or within three months after, the commencement of the proceedings in which the judgment was given, he has obtained a declaration that, apart from any provision contained in the policy, he is entitled to avoid the policy on the ground that it was obtained by the non-disclosure of a material fact, or by a representation of fact which was false in some material particular, or, if he has avoided the policy on that ground, that he was entitled so to do apart from any provision contained in it:

Provided that an insurer who has obtained such a declaration as aforesaid in an action, shall not thereby become entitled to the benefit of this subsection as respects any judgment obtained in proceedings commenced before the commencement of that action, unless before or within twenty-one days after the commencement of that action he has given notice thereof to the person who is the plaintiff in the said proceedings specifying the non-disclosure or false representation on which he proposes to rely, and any person to whom notice of such an action is so given shall be entitled, if he thinks fit, to be made a party thereto.

(4) If the amount which an insurer becomes liable under this section to pay in respect of a liability of a person insured by a policy exceeds the amount for which he would, apart from the provisions of this section, be liable under the policy in respect of that liability, he shall be entitled to recover the excess from that person.

(5) In this section-

(6) In this Act reference to a certificate of insurance in any provision relating to the surrender, or the loss or destruction of a certificate of insurance, shall in relation to policies under which more than one certificate is issued, be construed as references to all the certificates, and shall, where any copy has been issued of any certificate, be construed as including a reference to that copy.

shall, as respects such liabilities as are required to be covered by a policy under paragraph (b) or paragraph (c) of subsection (1) of section 10 of this Act, be of no effect:

Provided that nothing in this section shall require an insurer to pay any sum in respect of the liability of any person otherwise than in or towards the discharge of that liability, and any sum paid by an insurer in or towards the discharge of any liability of any person which is covered by the policy by virtue only of this section shall be recoverable by the insurer from that person.

(2) Any person who, without reasonable excuse-

shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on summary conviction to a fine of two hundred dollars or to imprisonment for a term of three months or to both such fine and imprisonment.

(2) Any person-

shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on summary conviction to a fine of two hundred dollars or to imprisonment for a term of three months or to both such fine and imprisonment.

(2) In this section the expression "insured person" means a person who is insured under a contract of insurance against liabilities to third parties in accordance with the provisions of this Part of this Act.

if, either before or after that event, any such liability as aforesaid is incurred by the insured, his rights against the insurer under the contract in respect of the liability shall, notwithstanding anything in any Act or rule of law to the contrary, be transferred to and vest in the third party to whom the liability was so incurred.

(2) Where an order is made under the Bankruptcy Act for the administration of the estate of a deceased debtor according to the law of bankruptcy, then, if any debt provable in bankruptcy is owing by the deceased in respect of a liability against which he was insured under a contract of insurance as being a liability to a third party, the deceased debtor's rights against the insurer under the contract in respect of that liability shall, notwithstanding anything in the said Bankruptcy Act, be transferred to vest in the person to whom the debt is owing.

(3) In so far as any contract of insurance made after the commencement of this Act in respect of any liability of the insured to third parties purports, whether directly or indirectly, to avoid the contract or to alter the rights of the parties thereunder upon the happening to the insured of any of the events specified in paragraph (a) or paragraph (b) of subsection (1) of this section or upon the making of the order referred to in subsection (2) of this section (in respect of the estate of a deceased debtor), the contract shall be of no effect.

(4) Upon a transfer under subsection (1) or subsection (2) of this section, the insurer shall, subject to the provisions of section 20 of this Act, be under the same liability to the third party as he would have been under to the insured but-

(5) For the purposes of this Act the expression "liabilities to third parties", in relation to a person insured under any contract of insurance, shall not include any liability of that person in the capacity of insurer under some other contract of insurance.

(6) This Act shall not apply where a company is wound up voluntarily merely for the purposes of reconstruction or of amalgamation with another company.

(2) If the information given to any person in pursuance of subsection (1) of this section discloses reasonable ground for supposing that there have or may have been transferred to him under this Act rights against any particular insurer, that insurer shall be subject to the same duty as is imposed by the said subsection (1) on the persons therein mentioned.

(3) The duty to give information imposed by this section shall include a duty to allow all contracts of insurance, receipts for premiums, and other relevant documents in the possession or, power of the person on whom the duty is so imposed to be inspected and copies thereof to be taken.

Provided that if the driver of a motor vehicle within forty-eight hours of the time the production of his certificate was so required, produces the certificate in person at such police station as may have been specified to him at the time its production was required, he shall not be convicted under this subsection of the offence of failing to produce his certificate.

(2) It shall be the duty of the owner of a motor vehicle to give such information as he may be required by any police officer to give as to the identity of the driver of the motor vehicle on any occasion when the driver was required under subsection (1) of this section to produce the certificate; and if the owner fails to do so, he shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on summary conviction to a fine of two hundred dollars or to imprisonment for a term of three months or to both the fine and imprisonment.

(3) If in any case where, owing to the presence of a motor vehicle on a road, an accident occurs involving injury to another person or to an animal or to the property of any person, and the driver of the motor vehicle does not at the time produce his certificate to a police officer or to some person who, having reasonable ground for so doing, has required its production, the driver shall report the accident at a police station as soon as possible, and in any case within twenty-four hours of the occurrence of the accident, and there produce his certificate; and if he fails to do so, he shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on summary conviction to a fine of two hundred dollars or to imprisonment for a term of three months or to both the fine and imprisonment:

Provided that a person shall not be convicted under this subsection of the offence of failing to produce his certificate if, within five days after the occurrence of the accident, he produces the certificate in person at such police station as may be specified to him at the time the accident was reported.

(4) In this section the expression "produce his certificate" means produce for examination the relevant certificate of insurance evidencing the fact that the motor vehicle was not being driven in contravention of section 8 of this Act.

shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on summary conviction to imprisonment for a term of twelve months and, in addition, to a fine not less than one thousand dollars but not exceeding two thousand dollars.

(2) Any person who, for the purpose of obtaining the issue of a certificate of insurance under this Act, makes any false statement or withholds any material information, shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on summary conviction to a fine not less than five hundred dollars but not exceeding one thousand dollars or to imprisonment for a term of six months, or to both the fine and imprisonment.

(3) Any person who issues a certificate of insurance which is to his knowledge false in any material particular, shall be guilty of an offence, and shall be liable on summary conviction to a fine of eight hundred dollars or to imprisonment for a term of twelve months, or to both the fine and imprisonment.

(4) If any police officer has reasonable cause to believe that any certificate of insurance produced to him in pursuance of the provisions of this Act by the driver of a motor vehicle is a document in relation to which an offence under this section has been committed, he may seize the document; and when any document is seized under this section, the person from whom it was taken shall, unless previously charged with an offence under this section, be summoned before a court of summary jurisdiction to account for his possession of the said document, and the court shall make such order respecting the disposal of the said document and award such costs as the justice of the case may require.

(2) If a motor vehicle or trailer is used on a road in contravention of any regulations made under this section, any person who so uses the vehicle or trailer or causes or permits it to be used shall be guilty of an offence and liable on summary conviction therefor to a fine of two hundred dollars.

(2) There shall be affixed to every licensed motor vehicle while being driven on a road, any number plates or licences issued by the Controller to the owner in respect of that vehicle, and required by any such regulations or directions to be affixed by the owner, in such manner as may be so required or directed.

(3) It shall not be lawful for any person to deface or obscure any number plate or licence issued under this section, or to attach thereto or impose thereon any letters or numbers.

(4) Number plates issued by the Controller under this section shall remain the property of the Department and shall be surrendered to the Controller-

(5) Any person who-

(6) Any reference in this section to a number plate shall include a reference to a trade plate.

(7) In respect of a set of number plates, other than trade plates, issued under this section, there shall be paid to the Controller by every owner of a motor vehicle other than a person listed in the proviso of section 31(3), such fee as the Minister may by order prescribe; and the Minister may prescribe different fees for different types of number plates.

(2) Whenever number plates are replaced pursuant to an order under subsection (1), there shall be paid to the Controller such fee as may be prescribed in the order.

(2) The Commissioner of Police, or upon appeal from his decision to a magistrate, then the magistrate, shall return any such lost property to any person who shall give satisfactory evidence of ownership, upon payment by that person of all expenses reasonably incurred by, and of such reasonable further sum as may be awarded to the finder who deposited the lost property.

(2) Any passenger who wilfully causes any injury to the driver of a public service vehicle (other than a self-drive vehicle) or any damage to any such vehicle shall be guilty of an offence and liable on summary conviction therefor to a fine of eighty dollars, and on any such conviction the magistrate may award to the owner of the vehicle damages not exceeding four hundred dollars and a further sum by way of costs not exceeding forty dollars, and to the driver of the vehicle (and if the driver is the owner then to the owner in addition to the aforesaid sums) damages not exceeding eighty dollars and a like sum by way of costs.

(3) The magistrate may order any sum awarded by way of damages or costs under this section to be paid forthwith, and payment thereof shall thereupon be recoverable as a fine.

(2) For the purposes of this section the appropriate motor vehicle licence is-

(3) No motor vehicle licence shall be granted unless the applicant has paid the appropriate fee specified in the Schedule to this Act:

Provided that no fee shall be required to be paid-

who is not a citizen of The Bahamas or ordinarily resident in The Bahamas at the date of the commencement of his employment; or

(4)(a) The period for which a motor vehicle licence (other than a temporary licence) shall be valid shall not exceed one year and shall terminate in each year-

(b) Where an application is made for a motor vehicle licence for the first time after the coming into force of this subsection by an individual under paragraph (a)(i), the Controller shall issue a licence-

(c) Where an application is made for the first time after the coming into force of this subsection for a motor vehicle licence in respect of a public service vehicle, the Controller shall issue a licence-

(d)        The period for which a temporary private motor vehicle licence shall be valid shall not exceed six months, and shall terminate upon any change of ownership of the vehicle.

(5) Subject to the provisions of this section the Controller shall upon application made by or on behalf of the owner of a motor vehicle register that vehicle and issue the appropriate motor vehicle licence in respect thereof:

Provided that-

(6)(a) Upon the registration of a motor vehicle under this section (other than a motor vehicle in respect of which a temporary private motor vehicle licence has been granted), the Controller shall issue a registration book to the applicant for the registration, in such form and containing such particulars as may be prescribed by regulations made under this Act.

(b) Upon any change of ownership of a motor vehicle registered under this Act, and in respect of which a motor vehicle licence is in force, the new owner may (and shall before being entitled to the issue or renewal of a motor vehicle licence in respect of that vehicle) send the registration book to the Controller together with an appropriate certificate of insurance, and thereupon the Controller shall (subject to the payment of the appropriate fee specified in the Schedule to this Act) reissue the registration book to the new owner.

(7) A motor vehicle licence issued in New Providence, shall be valid in any Out Island, and a motor vehicle licence issued in an Out Island shall be valid in New Providence, upon the payment of the appropriate fee specified in the Schedule to this Act and upon the endorsement of the licence by the Controller.

(8) Any motor vehicle registered and licensed under any Act repealed by this Act shall be deemed to be registered and to be the subject of the issue of an appropriate motor vehicle licence under this Act, until such time as the licence issued under that Act would, but for the passing of this Act, have expired.

(9) The Minister may by regulations made under this Act make further provision (not inconsistent with the provisions of this Act) regarding any of the following matters-

(10) Upon his being satisfied that a registration book has been lost or destroyed, the Controller may issue a duplicate book upon payment of the appropriate fee specified in the Schedule to this Act.

(11) The provisions of this section shall not apply in the case of vehicles owned by the Admiralty, the War Department or the Air Ministry.

(2) Every certificate of fitness shall be registered by the Controller and shall remain in force until the motor vehicle concerned is next inspected under this section.

(3) All motor vehicles licensed as public service vehicles shall be subject to inspection under this section at least once in every period of six months, and all other licensed motor vehicles shall be subject to such inspection at least once in every year, and an inspection under this section shall be made at such time and place as the Controller may direct.

(4) There shall be payable in respect of a certificate of fitness issued under this section the appropriate fee specified in the Schedule to this Act:

Provided that no fee shall be required to be paid-

who is not a citizen of The Bahamas or ordinarily resident in The Bahamas at the date of the commencement of his employment; or

(5) The Minister may make regulations prescribing-

and until such regulations are made such standards of fitness shall be such as the Controller may determine.

(6) If at any time the Controller or any police officer is of the opinion that any motor vehicle should be inspected under this section, the Controller or the police officer, as the case may be, may at any time require the owner or person in charge of that vehicle to submit that vehicle for inspection.

(7) If upon an inspection under this section a motor vehicle does not qualify for a certificate of fitness, the Controller may cancel any motor vehicle licence in force in relation to that vehicle, or may do so unless that vehicle qualifies for a certificate upon further inspection under this section within such time as he may allow.

(8) Any owner of a motor vehicle may appeal to the Authority against any decision of the Controller or a police officer under this section, and the decision of the Authority, after hearing the holder (if he so wishes) and the Controller, shall be final.

(9) In this section a reference to the mechanical condition of a motor vehicle includes a reference to the equipment of that vehicle with spare parts and tools.

(10) Any owner or person in charge of a motor vehicle who fails without reasonable excuse to submit that vehicle for inspection under this section at the directed time and place shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on summary conviction therefor to a fine of forty dollars for a first offence and of two hundred dollars for a second or subsequent offence.

(2) The Controller may in his discretion issue one or more sets of trade plates to any manufacturer of or dealer in motor vehicles on payment of the appropriate fees specified in the Schedule to this Act.

(3) If the holder of a set of trade plates is convicted of any offence under this Act arising out of the misuse of any trade plates, the Controller may cancel any or all of the sets of trade plates issued to that holder, whereupon the sets of trade plates so cancelled shall be of no effect for the purposes of this section.