THE UNFORTUNATE INCIDENT which led to a route taxi (ZR) overturning last week and 22 people being injured, has served as a wake-up call to Barbadians.
Many of them expressed anger at the indiscriminate use of the roads by some ZR drivers and welcomed the news that the driver had been remanded to prison and the owner was also facing possible sanctions.
However, online readers were also incensed about the knee-jerk reaction to this situation, as the problem had been brewing for several years and corrective measures should have been taken before.
Here are their views:
Griffith Elmina: Taking the owner’s permit away should serve as a deterrent to van owners. This would encourage them to scrutinise the persons they are employing to drive their vans.
Jevanni Hunte: No matter how much scrutiny is put into selecting the driver or conductor, the owner has no control over the agency of those individuals. People need to stop deferring blame and take responsibility of their own actions.
Marvin Alleyne: This is a farce. How long has the writing been on the wall that an incident like this would’ve happened sooner or later? Now that this has unfortunately happened, there is this large uproar of anger and hustle of work coming from these authorities who now want to do a decade’s worth of work in the aftermath. Sad. Disgusting. Foolish.
Taurus Bull: Every man is responsible for his actions, and what did the owner do? He gave a man a job so he wouldn’t be begging. When a police [officer] shoots and kills someone wrongfully, does anyone go after the commissioner to charge him? When a Transport Board bus causes a serious accident, does anyone goes after the Transport Board, or ban their permits?
Steve Barker: Instead of being reactive, you need to be proactive. Anyone driving people needs to realise their responsibilities to the safety of their passengers.
Olutoye Walrond: I get the strong impression these guys are feeling their way through this thing. They want to appease an angry public and in the process might very well get themselves into trouble with the law. On what grounds will the owner’s permit be suspended? What specific regulations did he/she break? The High Court and possibly the CCJ [Caribbean Court of Justice] should start preparing for this one.
Ken R. Smith: It’s about time.
Ralph White: Why have these actions not been taken before?
Marceline Sealy: About time you did something to stop the madness.
Vernon Scantlebury: The minibus/ZR culture is simply social engineering at work. The Government needs bad drivers simply because bad drivers pay bills. All of you good citizens out there shouting and screaming for justice, meanwhile the bills would not get paid if the authorities listen to you good citizens.
Flojoe Maloney: Sometimes something has to happen for the relevant parties take action – all this is long overdue. Owners, check and really see who they are. All this would just fade away in a matter of days.
Sherrylyn Toppin is The Nation’s Online Editor.