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President of the BRSA, Sharmane Roland-Bowen (left) and Sales Agent at NewTech Signage, Janice Harewood proudly display the 'Designate 1' sign yesterday.

BRSA wants answers

As the Barbados Road Safety Association (BRSA) rolls out its anti-drunk driving campaign for the Crop Over Season dubbed “Designate 1”, its president is questioning why breathalyser testing in this country remains elusive.

During a press conference yesterday morning in the conference room of the Barbados Co-operators General Insurance, President of the BRSA, Sharmane Roland-Bowen expressed concern that even though legislation providing for the breathalyser testing to be done has been passed, and she understands that equipment has been purchased, no further steps have been taken. She feels strongly that with Crop Over getting into full swing, there is a need for deterrents that can persuade people not to drive under the influence of alcohol – chief among them the breathalyser. With that testing still not in place, she has posed a number of questions which she wants the one-year-old government to answer.

“Why are there top-of-the-line breathalyser devices which were purchased since January this year sitting idly at the Ministry of Transport and Works when they could be effectively put in use to reduce the prevalence of vehicular accidents, which may be caused by persons driving under the influence of alcohol on our roads? What is currently preventing the training of our police officers in the utilisation and the administration of the breathalyser devices along with the needed refresher training in drink- drive laws? I have been reliably informed that this training can be facilitated in one to two days maximum,” she stated.

The road safety advocate also questioned why has the Ministry of Transport, Works and Maintenance not engaged in an education campaign to inform the public of the dangers of driving under the influence of alcohol and how the breathalyser testing will be conducted. Her questions came as she said that such efforts would certainly assist with compliance.

“We are hoping that this is not a case where our Minister of Transport and Works changes his mind as he did in the past,” she said.

Noting that last November it was promised that breathalyser testing would be rolled out in January this year, Roland-Bowen lamented that five months on, they need answers to why it has been delayed.

“The devices are here, the law is here, the police officers are here, but still no enforcement of this law through the testing of impaired drivers, especially at such a critical time of the year – the Crop Over Season. This would be the first year in Barbados’ history that we have this counteractive equipment available to us for the Crop Over Season, a weapon proven globally to fight drink-driving on the world’s roads and still Barbados, as a developing country, is unable to reap the benefits of such a useful device, but chooses to continue to gamble with the lives of road users in this country,” she lamented.

The BRSA president’s comments came as she noted that we are fast approaching the end of the United Nations Decade of Action for Road Safety and have little to show for it. She made the point while noting that one of the main recommendations of that ten-year goal is to stabilise and reduce the level of road traffic deaths around the world, is the establishment of drink-driving laws, but all Barbados has to show for it she maintained, is “a dormant piece of legislation sitting away in a filing cabinet somewhere”. (JRT)

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