Barbados was more than ready for a change in laws against indiscriminate driving, use of cell phones and cyclists’ failure to wear helmets.
This is the sentiment of the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Transport and Works (MTW) Simone Rudder, who was responding to comments about the amended road traffic legislation catching Barbadians off guard.
Rudder, who was attending a town hall meeting held at the Princess Margaret Secondary School in Six Road, St Philip, on Thursday, said the changes had been spoken about for a long time.
“I having been working with MTW since September 2015 and I have lived in Barbados for my entire life and it is therefore with authority I say I heard about these changes for a very long time as someone who sits at home and reads the paper, who listens to the news on television or parliamentary debates.
“The minister responsible for MTW, Michael Lashley, has been talking about the changes for many, many months . . . so when it came he would have spoken about it in the Estimates Debate earlier last year and when he went to the parliamentary debate towards the end of that year, it was a culmination of a long process where a lot of discussion was being conducted by the ministry and other stakeholders.”
The town hall meeting was part of a talk series organised by the Silent 4 Safety Campaign of the Barbados Road Safety Association.
Rudder attended the event on behalf of Minister Lashley.
Among the new rules in the amended act are:
No driving with a cell phone to ear and having a conversation.
No conversation on a cell phone speaker while driving.
No use of an earpiece or headset to have a cell phone conversation while driving.
Only conversations on cell phones connected to Bluetooth in a vehicle would be allowed.
Anyone caught breaking the law would be liable, on summary conviction, to a fine of $2 000, imprisonment for 18 months, or both.
Meanwhile, bicyclists must wear helmets or face a $300 fine.
Many have been seen wearing new and used ones to avoid the penalties. (SB)