Government urged not to forget road safety
As the new Government of Barbados seeks to start work officially this morning, the Barbados Road Safety Association (BRSA) is urging it not to put road safety on the backburner.
Speaking to The Barbados Advocate over the weekend, President of the BRSA, Sharmane Roland-Bowen, in congratulating the Barbados Labour Party on its unprecedented victory, pledged its support to assist the new government in efforts to keep all road users safe, as she said she looks forward to meeting with the new Minister of Transport, Works and Maintenance, Dr. William Duguid, as well as the Minister in the Ministry of Transport, Works and Maintenance, Peter Phillips, as soon as possible. Her comments came against the backdrop of six road deaths last week, which brought the total for the year to 15.
“While the majority of Barbadians are celebrating victory, six families are experiencing grief from mourning the loss of their loved ones through accidents that could have been avoided. The welcoming mat for the new BLP government is not good; it is welcoming them to the stark reality of what is existing out there on our roads – too many lives being lost. This is only the fifth month of the year and already we have lost more than half the lives which were cut short last year and we have not even entered the Crop Over season yet, which is a time of the year where persons utilise the roads more frequently,” she lamented.
Reflecting then on the road deaths to date and those recorded over the last few years, Roland-Bowen feels strongly that road safety needs to be one of the priorities for the new administration.
Noting that the legislation to deal with road safety is already in place, with the passage of the Road Safety (Amendment) Act by the previous government last November, she is calling on the new government to enforce the provisions of that law, in particular, she said, the section which speaks to drink driving and breathalyser testing.
The road safety advocate says that steps need to be taken as soon as possible to ensure the preparatory work is done regarding the acquisition of equipment and training of police officers, to have that aspect of the Act functional. That, she maintained, is one of the key measures required in Barbados to assist this country playing its part in meeting the primary target of the United Nations Decade of Action for Road Safety, which is to stabilise and reduce the number of road deaths around the world by 2020.
“We would like this new administration to make this a priority, because the same people they fought for at the polls, for their lives and their betterment, are the same people using our roads. Nothing is more important than life and road fatalities are preventable with law, enforcement and education,” she added.
The sixth deaths over the last week have also prompted the BRSA president to appeal for greater caution and care on our roads. As she expressed condolences to the families, Roland-Bowen made an impassioned plea for all road users to do their part to keep our roads safe. She also reiterated a call made earlier this year for passengers in vehicles to play their part, while noting that a number of those who have died on our roads so far for the year, have been passengers.