TRAGICALLY, WE ARE well on our way to reaping a bumper crop of carnage on our roads.
With only three months of the year relegated to the history books, Barbados has recorded 14 road deaths compared with ten for the whole of 2016. Not surprisingly we have heard Attorney General Adriel Brathwaite, the Royal Barbados Police Force (RBPF), the Barbados Road Safety Association and various road safety advocates making what can only be called a justifiable appeal for slower and better driving and for more sensible use of our roads in order to save lives.
But we will have to do more – much more – than make such appeals to drivers, motorcyclists and pedestrians to exercise greater care on the roads.
With fast driving, the growing addiction to electronic devices that cause driver distractions, the inexcusable failure of passengers to fasten rear seatbelts and the heavy consumption of alcohol before getting behind the wheel contributing to the bloodshed on our highways, the RBPF must step up its crackdown on the preventable causes of death.
There must be more officers assigned to the police’s traffic units, heightened use of electronics by the police and an aggressive and determined campaign that hauls wayward drivers before the courts and holds them responsible for their recklessness. These initiatives as well as rooting out lawlessness such as stunt riding by motorcyclists should become priorities for the cops, magistrates in traffic courts and the AG’s office.
The heart-rending death of the police officer, the St George granddad who lost his grandson, the tears of a Christ Church family following the fatal crash along the ABC Highway that took away a 25-year-old son about 24 hours after a relative was found dead in his St Michael home, and the father who died crossing the Ronald Mapp Highway with his child are sharp reminders that as road users we are all at risk. In other words, common sense must prevail.
Speed cameras, vigorous implementation of seat belt laws, systematic enforcement of anti-speeding legislation and courts that drive fear into the hearts of people responsible for vehicular homicides are all part of the possible solution. But so too must be aggressive enactment of tougher regulations for drunken driving, texting and turning to map apps, heightened awareness of the costs of bad driving, and sharp reminders to Barbadians and others that constant use of cellphones while walking or driving can help slash the number of road fatalities.
With accidents moving higher up the list of the leading causes of death in Barbados, there must be a coordinated approach to the nightmare on our roads and the Attorney General must lead the charge. It’s frightening to think we are moving towards a situation in which more people would die from road accidents than from the use of guns, knives and other acts of violence.
The solutions rest with all of us.