The recent spate of road accidents across Barbados has drawn the ire of President of the Barbados Road Safety Association (BRSA) Sharmane Roland-Bowen, who is pointing an accusing finger at authorities for not enforcing traffic laws.
This week alone the island recorded two fatal accidents, one of them including American tourist Janette Danglois who was a pedestrian in Holetown St James on Sunday, and a separate one involving motorcyclist Jamal Elon Lewis along Hastings Main Road, Christ Church on Wednesday.
Sympathizing with the families of the accident victims, Roland-Bowen told Barbados TODAY while she did not know the cause of the accidents, she believed enforcement of legislation could play a major role in minimizing the number of road deaths.
“It is the responsibility of the Government to protect its citizens. If they are not protecting themselves the Government needs to do it. The Government needs to protect us from ourselves. So it needs to be priority. Right now we have amendments and they are not being put in place,” she said.
“Where is the punishment for people? They know when they go out there and do anything they are not being punished. We have ways and means that can punish them. What happened to the demerit point system? All these are deterrents to stop people and make them behave better. Nobody wants their driver’s licence taken away. We have rules and regulations but we are not using them. They need to be up and running, not under the table. If we fail to do so the loss of lives is going to continue,” she warned.
Under the Barbados Road Traffic Amendment Act, which came into effect in late February this year, road users face serious penalties including hefty fines and imprisonment for various traffic offences including using a mobile phone while driving.
That legislation also makes provision for lawmen to request a breathalyzer test once there is justifiable cause. It is still uncertain if the requisite training and equipment were ever realized to make way for the breathalyzer testing.
Prime Minister Mia Mottley, while in Opposition, had objected to some sections of the Road Traffic Amendment Act, promising to consult with the public and make necessary changes.
Roland-Bowen told Barbados TODAY the BRSA has been “more or less sitting back for the last four months going into five months since the new administration has been put in place, doing an analysis of what is happening on our roads”.
“So far nothing seems to have change,” said Roland-Bowen.
She said while she welcomed the upgrade of the roadways to make it safer for motorists and pedestrians, an even greater emphasis should be placed on putting proper laws in place and enforcing them.
The road safety advocate gave the BLP administration a failing grade for efforts in helping to curb road accidents and fatalities.
Having said this, Roland-Bowen quickly pointed out that motorists and pedestrians also had a responsibility to ensure their own safety and the safety of other road users, as well as to educate themselves on proper road usage.
“We cannot become complacent. We need to obey the laws and the rules. We need to know if you drink and drive you could get into an accident, you can hurt yourself, and you can hurt somebody else. We need to know if we speed on the roads the damage is going to be more severe.You need to know that if you drive distracted you can cause an accident.You have to also police yourself,” she said.
During the month of November, which is also road safety month, the BRSA is hoping to meet with policymakers to identify areas of weaknesses, possible solutions, as well as laws that could be better enforced.
The association will also place heavy emphasis on drunk driving as it embarks on a major education campaign.
The country has recorded a total of 27 road fatalities for the year so far.
Last year, Barbados recorded a total of 28 road deaths, making it the year with the highest number of road fatalities in the last decade.
Mrs.Bowen i applaud your determination to ensure our roadways are safe, but just as with the crime situation in this country, the new self-praising regime is failing miserably in many obvious areas.
You are one of the people whose eyes are becoming unglued.
Same old ,same old , talk , talk go back to sleep lady please…….
She is right on point but it’s Barbados we talking about so no surprise here.
More fast food more fast cars. Heavy duty traffic and more collisions on our tiny streets.More accidents, amputations, obesity, lung cancer and the list goes on. It’s time for us to produce and consume sensibly if we want to live. But it’s time too for steep speed prevention methods and steeper fines for speeding.
As President of such a worthy organisation, I am very surprised that you are so weak in keeping the flag flying. You need some hand to hold you up, but don’t expect them to come from government. You need to agitate more, fight for what you know to be right and be less dependent on anything positive to come from Government.
You are the President of the Barbados Road Safety Association (BRSA): how many members do you have? Are they willing to march? or are you the president without members?
Come on Desert Rat…..who makes and enforces the traffic laws ?….certainly not the BRSA. It is nonsense to say the association should not be dependent on Government. Unless you want the BRSA to start giving out speedy tickets on their own…..smh
Mrs Bowen: I applaud your efforts. Keep it up. I am one of those people that directly benefited from training facilitated by your organization. You are very correct in calling on Government for support (and this has nothing to do with politics).
the problem is that persons are not being taught properly when they start driving – Barbados needs a proper teaching system for new drivers & the instructors need to know the rules and how to drive first!
The Road Safety Association should be taking the initiative and take the Road Safety message into schools, workplaces, churches, Q in the Community,the media, street corners etc etc.
Stop waiting on Government to hold your hands .