Justice Minister Delroy Chuck is urging motorists to avoid using the court system as a means of delaying payments for traffic tickets.

He was speaking yesterday at a press conference about the Demerit Point System, which becomes effective on October 1.

Motorists are being urged to clear outstanding traffic tickets prior to the implementation of the Demerit Point System.

Mr. Chuck pointed out that the courts handle matters in which drivers want to challenge the tickets issued to them.

He said that in some cases, the court may order the motorist to pay more than what is stated on the ticket.

He added that courts islandwide are burdened with too many traffic ticket cases, especially those in Kingston and St. Andrew which have about 500,000 cases.