The Barbados Advocate

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Enough is enough!

11/2/2008

THERE have been several discussions and appeals to government to implement the breathalyser test in Barbados so that laws for driving under the influence of alcohol can be enforced. However, there is still no such test in place.

In August 2007, the then Minister of Transport, Gline Clarke, said that the Government was going to “study” breathalyser tests and later in October at the Annual Police Awards, Commissioner of Police Darwin Dottin noted that more people die on the roads in Barbados than there are murders.

Also interesting are figures from the Accident and Emergency Department at the QEH which suggest that over 60 per cent of all accident victims and death from accidents were as a result of persons driving under the influence of alcohol.

“We must bring an end to this carnage on our roads,” said Commissioner Dottin in October, but alcohol continues to play a critical role in sponsorship and advertising leading up to our major celebrations and figures would show that there is increased consumption of alcoholic beverages at these times when our roads are also at their busiest.

Night clubs entice our youth with “Drinks Free” and “Happy Hour” ads and adult bartenders can sell any amount of alcohol to our 16, 17 and 18-year-olds who are likely to succumb to peer pressure and take a drink or two or three or four. Worse too is that alcohol beverages sponsor sporting events, many of which end with large consumption of beers, rum, vodka, whiskey and the list goes on.

All of this is done with the knowledge that persons drinking will be getting behind the steering wheel of a car to make their way home. A shameful disregard for human life and safety.

So churlish is the attention paid to the effects that alcohol has on driving that alcoholic companies are allowed to marry alcohol and driving when they offer cars in competitions promoting their products and tourist maps have the stamp of almost every alcohol manufacturer in this country.

We have suffered the loss of love ones in horrific car accidents. Some now fight to start over their lives without a limb or two and many battle to regain the ability to walk and perform simple tasks like brushing one’s hair, while several others have to settle for a life of pain from injuries sustained in accidents.

Yet, police cannot test drivers at the scene of accidents to ascertain if alcohol was a factor, nor can sobriety check points be set up to discourage drunk driving.

The breathalyser test does not seek to target any one group of people, nor does it seek to stop the use of alcohol, it basically seeks to discourage driving under the influence of alcohol which largely contributes to death and suffering.

Driving under the influence of alcohol must be seen as a serious crime and not just another traffic offence, and we must continue to fight until we eradicate drunk driving from our roads.

Barbados must have effective legislation in place for driving under the influence of alcohol and the police must be equipped and trained to effectively and efficiently conduct breathalyser tests twenty four hours a day. No stone must be left unturned until we are happy that people across this island think about the consequences of drunk driving before getting behind a steering wheel.

I call on the government, the police, night club owners, bartenders, principals, parents, alcoholic beverage companies, insurance companies and corporate Barbados to work together to educate the public and to change the attitude of drivers so that we can rid our streets of drunk drivers for the sole purpose of saving lives and protecting all road users from unnecessary suffering.

We, as a nation, cannot afford to go backwards. We expect our families, friends and loved ones to be safe on our roads and the authorities in this country must be pressed to introduce the breathalyser test and review and enforce laws for the consequences of driving under the influence of alcohol.

Driving is a privilege, it is not a right, and those who abuse the privilege and endanger lives should be denied that privilege and bear the consequences of their actions.

I am a victim of a drunk driver who apparently fell asleep at the steering wheel when his car sped up and crossed into my lane and struck me. The driver of that car was over 70 years old and he is a known rum shop drinker. The rum shop he frequents is within walking distance of his home, but so callous is the attitude to road safety and drunk driving that this retired professional saw nothing wrong with going on his drinking spree and then getting into a car and driving.

But what about the rum shop owners? What part do they play?

What role does the insurance companies play? From my experience with the Insurance company concerned, they were as painful as the injuries and their behaviour towards such situations condones drunk driving in Barbados.

Thanks be to God, I am here today, but the suffering, the attitude of insurance companies and the fact that this driver has not even been prosecuted leaves me with absolutely no regard for a system that allows drunk drivers to wreck havoc on our roads.

Enough is enough! Drunk driving must become a thing of the past.

SHELLY ROSS

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as of close 9/15/2009


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