BRSA launches ‘Silent 4 Safety’ Campaign

Drivers in Barbados are being asked to join in the fight to end distracted driving, by making a commitment to silence and putting away their cell phones when driving and to also use hands free devices responsibly.

The call comes from Sharmane Roland-Bowen, President of the Barbados Road Safety Association (BRSA), who says drivers who refrain from making calls or texting whilst driving – as the new law barring the use of cell phones whilst driving demands – are doing so in the interest of their own personal safety and that of others. As such, she and others members of the Association have voiced their view that Barbadians should not complain about the new law, but comply with it. Those who are not compliant, can be charged a fine of up to $2 000 or 18 months in prison, or both.

Acknowledging that statistics from the Royal Barbados Police Force indicate that there are almost 8 000 vehicular accidents occurring on our roads each year and that a significant amount of these are attributed to distracted driving, Roland-Bowen explained that the BRSA has decided to launch a “Silent 4 Safety” Campaign, to better educate persons about the new law and to encourage them to make a Silent 4 Safety Pledge, to better comply with the law.

“Today we are here this morning to launch our road safety campaign on distracted driving, with a special emphasis on cell phone use and the cell phone law. Over the last couple of weeks much has been said about the issue… as it relates to cell phone use and we have started a campaign to educate persons, and to make these laws and these practices more acceptable to persons, so that they will be in compliance with it,” the BRSA President commented during a press conference held yesterday.

“This campaign is called ‘Silent 4 Safety’, because we are encouraging persons to put their hand-held cell phones on silent, as they drive in their vehicles. Not only are we asking persons to put them on silent, we are also asking them to put them away; put them in the glove compartment, so you will not be tempted to answer that call,” she added.

“We are also going to be asking persons to take a pledge, where we will be giving persons the Pledge Card and we will advise them to read it, along with information we will give them in this Brochure, which tells you what you need to know,” she further stated, noting that a lot of the information follows International Best Practices and takes into account the Decade of Action For Road Safety which Barbados is a signatory to, which seeks to reduce road fatalities by half by 2020.

The Silent 4 Safety Brochure gives information about distracted driving, hands free phone use via Bluetooth and also lists areas where drivers should not stop their vehicles to use mobile phones, amongst other things.

Whereas, the Silent 4 Safety Pledge Card encourages persons to make a promise to keep family, friends and other road users safe, by pledging to put their cell phones on silent and away before driving and to encourage others to do so; to use hands free devices responsibly; to not call others while they’re driving and to speak up if persons are breaking the law.

The campaign, which will see several Town Hall meetings also being held, will run until the end of April (RSM).