The Transport Authority is hoping for greater assistance from the courts as it searches desperately for solutions that will see reckless public service vehicle (PSV) drivers removed from the country’s roads.
In an interview, Transport Authority Chairman Ian Estwick disclosed that numerous PSV operators continued to evade attempts to crack down on their negative behaviour. He also blamed owners for failing to exercise due diligence when hiring drivers.
But President of the Association of Private Transport Operators (APTO) Kenneth Best has come to the defence of PSV drivers arguing that a host of other individuals and organisations have a role to play in stamping out the issue of bad driving.
Kenneth Best
The two were responding to questions from Barbados TODAY hours after minibus driver Dacian Griffith, who has over 90 convictions, was remanded charged in connection with an incident in which a minibus was captured on security cameras almost striking a pedestrian while overtaking a vehicle on the wrong side of the road.
According to Estwick, some PSV workers continue to operate with as many as 162 traffic convictions. He revealed that the authority has been suspending the permits of offending drivers. However current legislation does not allow the regulatory body to pursue drivers directly.
“We have been having hearings of infractions against PSVs and in some cases we issue formal warnings and in other cases we have suspended permits for as long as a month. But what we find is that when we suspend the permit for the van owner, the driver just leaves him and gets a job with another owner.
“And it seems the new owners never ask why a particular driver is no longer driving for his former boss or anything like that and that is what we are finding. In other words, you would suspend the permits for the owners but the people who are causing the problems are still in the system,” explained Estwick.
He however suggested that while authorities seek to tighten current legislation, the courts could use its muscle to force repeat offenders out of the system.
“We would be very grateful if the courts could take out a few of them. We would be grateful for any support that the courts can give us,” said Estwick.
“Recently, we have also been calling the insurance companies to let them know that we do not consider certain drivers to be fit to operate a PSV,” he added.
Estwick further revealed the authority is actively working with APTO and the Alliance Owners of Public Transportation (AOPT) to make key legislative changes in the interest of safety but complained that too many PSV owners were continuing to assist deviant drivers by hiring them despite their troubling traffic records.
“I have heard about one operator that has as many as 162 traffic convictions and as long as the owners tolerate that sort of nonsense, it is not going to get any better.
“There are people out there who are unemployed and have told me they would like to drive a PSV but they want nothing to do with the environment in which they are operating. So there is no shortage, it’s just that some owners are comfortable because these fellows hustle and bring money for the owners so they are quite content with that arrangement,” he said.
Meanwhile, APTO president Kenneth Best acknowledged that owners have a major role to play in stamping out deviance throughout the transport sector. He also called for more cooperation from insurance companies and the police.
“There are a lot of factors that have to be taken into account. John public also needs to help owners. If a driver is driving badly, you have a right to stop the bus and get out. If they don’t do that, then the drivers will feel they have the right to continue doing these things. Everybody has to play their part in the transportation industry, not only the owners,” he said.
With regard to the most recently publicised case, Best argued that it is unclear whether the accused’s 90 offences were traffic cases or criminal cases.
“It never said that his convictions were traffic offences… so you can’t just say it’s for traffic convictions. It all boils down to the nature of the convictions because some people who are now drivers would have moved from becoming conductors and their conviction card is still there,” said the PSV official.
“The bad driving does not only come from PSVs,” Best added. “It comes from nearly every person who drives on the road and you see it every day, but because PSVs are the hot subject, the media houses want to carry it.”
kareemsmith@barbadostoday.bb
