THINGS THAT MATTER: License to drive, license to kill

Many people reading about the rapid development of self-driving or autonomous cars feel distinctly uncomfortable. How could it possibly be safe, given the assumed inability, surely, of an autonomous car to predict the movements of human drivers in the same space? And after all, we’re all familiar with computers crashing, so isn’t there a big risk of the autonomous car’s computer system crashing and crashing the car? But one of the big arguments of those leading this game-changer is the revelation of the frightening fatality statistics. In a recent article in the Guardian it’s stated that “1.2 million people die on the road each year, equivalent to a 737 plane falling out of the sky every hour. In 94% of the cases, the cause is human error.”

And here in Barbados the mythological Greek fates Hubris and Nemesis seem to be very active. It was reported with consummate pride last December that we had had the lowest road fatality figures in a decade – a mere ten for the year 2016. Hubris was in ascendance. So what happened next? Our pride was savagely cut short by Nemesis, and by mid-March 2017 we had roared past that figure – 13 deaths in ten weeks. And the carnage continues although at a somewhat slower rate. I understand there are now 18 deaths in seven months. So while we had one road death every 37 days last year, we now have one every 12 days. And we haven’t yet lived through (or been killed) from the excesses of Kadooment celebrations, Independence or Christmas and the New Year, when accidents increase in proportion to the abandon and intoxication of the revelry.

Everyone should be asking why there are so many fatalities and what should be done about it. While the Barbados Road Safety Association’s valiant efforts are to be praised, there is little apparent effort by the appropriate authorities to address the problem at all levels. The well documented relationship of road accidents to alcohol and other drugs of abuse, as well as the now malignant disease of cell phone addiction and even texting while driving are now accepted with resignation just as we now appear to accept corruption in public life.

But I believe there are many things that contribute to road accidents, and excessive speeding and dangerous driving every day, all day must be major contributors to these avoidable disasters. From casual, daily observation on the roads there are many bad habits that have become the norm rather than the exception. They include:

Race track style speeding; I am frequently passed on the highway doing the standard 70 – 80 kilometres per hour by cars that seem to leave me standing – doing closer to 100 miles per hour – BMWs, giant SUVs and even trucks.

Race track weaving; speedsters that overtake cars in both lanes, weaving their way aggressively from lane to lane, without use of indicators. Admittedly drivers using the overtaking lane or “fast lane” who drive at funereal speeds no doubt contribute to the impatience of some of the weavers, but we really do need speed traps and a Corporal Cyrus on a fast motor bike to bring the supersonic racers to court.

Failure to indicate changes of lane; this is now the norm, and does cause accidents.

Failure of the Ministry of Transport and Works to maintain road markings, leading to confusion at intersections and roundabouts.

There is a need and an opportunity for some serious research into the causes of dangerous driving and accidents. Will the university’s sociologists accept the challenge?

There are, of course, other environmental factors that come into play. These include pot holes, and avoidance can result in the most alarming swerving of cars. Then there’s the problem of ZR drivers putting on their right indicator light when they stop suddenly to pick up passengers in all sorts of inappropriate and illegal places, sometimes for several minutes with the result that cars behind overtake in frustration, with resulting mishaps. Another ridiculous and frustrating practice is for the ZR vans to stop for inordinately long times to hail passengers walking down side roads. This happens frequently at the old Banks corner on the Wildey Road, adding to the traffic delays. Similarly some ZR vans refusal to use bus lay-byes adds further to delays and frustration.

Then there’s the problem of night driving. I think about 50 percent of drivers won’t or don’t dip there headlights for on-coming traffic. The “Big McGuffies” in big SUVs and ZR drivers are the worst offenders, blinding drivers in saloon cars. And the new powerful quadruple headlights are killers, literally.

Another avoidable problem is that of the “entrepreneurs” selling nuts, gineps or dunks at roundabouts. These salesmen at the Emancipation Statue Roundabout convert a two minute drive from CBC through the roundabout to a ten or twelve minute drive. For every thousand drivers and their passengers delayed ten more minutes it results in the loss of several full working days. The thousands of hours lost in road delays is a huge loss of productivity. A simple solution to this problem would be to develop the side road that runs parallel to the highway opposite the mall into a roadside vendor’s market. This kind of roadside lay-bye works wonderfully in Jamaica.

Clearly there are solutions to many of our traffic problems. They include better road maintenance, better road markings, and discipline on the roads. This includes drivers of every kind of vehicle. There must be both the exercise of the full arm of the law against dangerous speedsters, undisciplined ZR drivers who appear to break the law with impunity and have protection if they do reach the courts (e.g. the man with 100 arrests but still driving) and the recent epidemic of maniacal motorcyclists scaring-the-hell-out-of-drivers. And there must be much more public education.
The Barbados Road Safety Association does its best, but it is time for the Government Information Service, which is so underused, to work with them on a MAJOR public education programme in all the media on road rules and defensive driving. It’s time to take this unnecessary carnage seriously and take action.

(Professor Fraser is Past Dean of Medical Sciences, UWI and Professor Emeritus of Medicine and Clinical Pharmacology. Website: profhenryfraser.com)