With Christmas Day next week and festive celebrations warming up, road safety advocate Sharmane Roland-Bowen has pleaded with bartenders and the hosts of parties to help ensure that guests don’t get drunk and drive.
Roland-Bowen, the head of the Barbados Road Safety Association (BRSA) said that while she still expected a number of companies to host staff parties and people to visit various establishments and friends and families this weekend, it would help if people have a designated driver if they planned on consuming alcoholic beverages.
She said: “Designate a driver and plan – how you are going to get to the party and how you are going to get from the party. Even for people who are hosting, they have a responsibility as well to make sure that people they invite do not go overboard when it comes to drinking.
“The people at the bar also, do not only look at the money, but look at the lives you can help save. If you know someone has had enough do not sell them anymore drink because you want them to live to come back the next week or the next month to come and purchase more drinks. So look out for the safety of these people and make sure you play your part. We all have a part to play.”
Saying that she was confident the police will continue to play their part, Roland-Bowen said she also wanted residents to look out for each other while using the island’s roadways.
“I want to take the time to remind people that the festive season is coming up and we just urge people to be careful. This is the time people are travelling up and down and the roads are busy. We want for this time leading up to Christmas for people to be careful, to be vigilant, get rest and do not drink and drive and look out for each other,” she said.
With the island recording some 12 road fatalities this year, another drastic reduction from what was recorded two years ago, Roland-Bowen warned that it was still nothing to “blow our trumpets at”.
Last year, 11 people died on the nation’s roads. In 2018, there were 24 road deaths and 28 in 2017.
Roland-Bowen said the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic may have contributed to this year’s figures given that the country had two periods of lockdown.
“The 12 is not too bad,” she said, “but it is nothing to blow our trumpets at because for a few weeks people were off the road because of the curfew and bars were closed.
“So yes, that could have contributed to the number of accidents and thereby the fatalities. So we give kudos to the persons who obey the instructions and I want you to continue to drink responsibly.”
(marlonmadden@barbadostoday.bb)
