President of the Barbados Road Safety Association (BRSA) Sharmane Roland-Bowen is calling for police to be out in full force to enforce road traffic rules, as she expressed concern about the number of collisions on the island’s roads so far this year.
With at least four fatalities being recorded since the year started, she said she believes the easing of the COVID-19 curfew which has led to increased traffic on the roads, may also be one of the reasons there have been more vehicular accidents, even though minor in many instances.
“There would have been a drop in the number of cars on the road because of COVID and . . . the curfews and so on that were in place and the business houses closing early to let people get home before the curfew. But now a lot of people are back out at work . . . and now school is out,” Roland-Bowen said.
“But let the police put down their foot and let the police presence be felt. Let us see people getting arrested for traffic offences and let people know that there is a police presence out there and I feel that that would help. You know, with this COVID coming in, a lot of that was put on the back burner and cast aside so people are now taking advantage and they don’t believe that traffic offences will get them into trouble.”
“But it needs to be seen that ‘yes, you are still getting into trouble for things like distracted driving’. We need to go back there to refresh people’s minds that it is dangerous to drive without due care and attention and maybe, just maybe, people will stop, take heed and drive defensively,” the road safety advocate added.
Roland-Bowen also indicated that the BRSA was looking forward to the new Minister of Transport and Water Resources Santia Bradshaw being proactive and reviewing recommendations made over the years to improve road safety, including reducing the chances of collisions.
“Yes, the breathalyser testing is one on top of the list. We are looking at driver training where the graduated driver’s licence is also concerned. We are looking to see improvements in the area of driver testing. We are looking to see some more visible markings on the roads, especially when it comes to pedestrian crossings and so on. People are back on the roads now so let us pick back up marking the pedestrian crossing.
“When people hear things are happening it acts as a deterrent. We need to know what is going on to prevent road accidents. We want proactive measures put in place to stop some of these collisions and to change people’s minds as well,” Roland-Bowen added. (AH)
