Call for PSV owners to be more responsible in driver selection

By Shamar Blunt Chairman of the Alliance Owners of Public Transport (AOPT) Roy Raphael is urging owners of public service vehicles (PSVs) to be more careful about who they permit to operate their vehicles. His call follows a collision between two route taxis (ZRs) on Spooner’s Hill, St Michael on Wednesday morning in which several passengers were injured. Raphael, who visited the scene of the accident that occurred as both PSVs were headed in the direction of Green Hill, told Barbados TODAY he was “very concerned as chairman of the association [about] these persons who continue to drive widely and badly with persons who catch their vehicles”. “All I can say to the owners is to [be cautious about] who they employ driving these vans. They need to check on their vehicles, they need to interview who is driving their vehicles,” he said. “The insurance [companies] insuring those vehicles now have been reduced because a number of insurance companies decided not to insure PSVs. Right now, we only have three insurance companies that are insuring us. If this continues like this, in my view, it will have a significant impact on the owners’ business.” Though stressing that he could not corroborate what the drivers were doing at the time of the collision, despite surveillance video of the accident circulating on social media, the AOPT chairman said some residents in the area reported that reckless driving was a regular occurrence on that section of the road. He lamented that the repeated complaints about PSV drivers were starting to affect owners’ bottom line. “We have seen a decline in the number of passengers travelling on public service vehicles because of [those types of drivers]. Persons are no longer taking the risk [or] putting their children at risk with these PSVs. We are seeing more private vehicles taking children to and from school, we are seeing more people catch the Transport Board buses even if they use the cross-country route,” Raphael said. “So it says something to us; a warning to them. We are asking the owners to work with us and those persons who continue to create problems for the industry, we are asking the owners not to employ these people. “We are small business people who depend heavily on the public service vehicles and the passengers to pay our bills. We cannot have those people, who have little or no interest in even obtaining or buying one, to create problems for us. We are going to fight back…. It cannot continue. So I am clearly indicating and sending a straight warning, a clear warning, to owners and operators to be mindful,” the AOPT boss added. shamarblunt@barbadostoday.bb]]>