Better lighting needed

The Barbados Road Safety Association (BRSA) is calling on the relevant authorities to provide better lighting in the area of Graeme Hall, Christ Church, where the fatal accident occurred over the weekend, claiming four lives.

At a press conference yesterday morning, President of the BRSA, Sharmane Roland-Bowen, called on the Ministry of Transport and Works to ensure that the lighting along that stretch of road is fixed as soon as possible. Noting that the stretch of road is known as a “black spot area”, she maintained that all efforts must be made to ensure that the safety of persons using that road at night is facilitated with proper lighting.

“Failing to do so will establish negligence,” she contended.

She made the point as she called on all Barbadians to join the Association in the fight for safer roads in this country.

“There have been five road fatalities for the year, which is totally unacceptable, and we are pleading with all road users to be extremely vigilant, cautious, and drive and act defensively on our roads,” she said.

Roland-Bowen made the comments as she expressed condolences to the Prime Minister and people of St. Vincent, and to the families of Danee Horne, Carianne Padmore and Aziza Dennie of St. Vincent, who were victims in Sunday’s accident. She also expressed condolences to the family of Andre Gittens of River Land, St. Philip.

“We take this time to further our appeal for road safety to be taken more seriously in this country. We are dealing with human lives here, and this callousness being displayed by the authorities has gone on for too long. How many more need to die on our roads, or be seriously injured or disabled, before something is done to combat this carnage? This brings back the memories of a similar incident, in October 2015,” she said.

She added, “The lives that were sacrificed on our roads yesterday [Sunday], and in recent years, must serve as a wake-up call to action for all those involved with the everyday responsibilities of dealing with all categories of persons traversing our road network.”

The road safety advocate is adamant that now is the time to act, by prioritising the safety of our people, and putting an end to the procrastination that is seemingly being shown towards road safety in this country. (JRT)