Road discipline will not suffer if wardens adopted a more educational role and became more practical when dishing out fines, according to Jose Herrera.

The Local Council Parliamentary Secretary insisted wardens would still be expected to enforce the law but a change in tack would ensure they earned people's trust.

"Should a warden wait for someone to commit a contravention and then fine him or should he be proactive and inform the driver not to break the law?"

Dr Herrera was speaking at the offices of the Chamber for Small and Medium Enterprises GRTU where he was given the organisation's proposals to reform the local enforcement system. Dr Herrera is piloting a reform process, which he insisted would not be cosmetic.

When asked whether he feared that a more practical approach - a diplomatic way of saying closing one eye - will lead to greater indiscipline on the roads, Dr Herrera said the reform will seek to differentiate between first-time offenders and repeat offenders.

"If a car lamp stops working is it right to fine the driver when he would have probably not even noticed. The warden can inform the driver, still register the offence but not issue the fine. If a week later the driver is caught again with a non-functioning lamp he will have to pay the fine."

Dr Herrera said the law reforming the warden system will have to be accompanied by a series of legal notices to bolster the standing of local commissioners, who hear tribunal cases. Ignoring a decision by the commissioner should be criminalised to cut down on the amount of unpaid fines, he said.

In its proposals the GRTU is calling for more respect to delivery people and service workers, who are constantly on the road.

The organisation said wardens should be trained to address people in a polite way and urged the government to ensure the reform will not take the country a step backwards.