Lighting needed

 

The authorities are being urged to properly illuminate the jersey barriers on the ABC Highway in order to guarantee the safety of motorists.
 
President of the Barbados Road Safety Association (BRSA), Sharmane Roland-Bowen is insisting that the Ministry of Public Works and Transport move with alacrity to make those barriers more visible to motorists traversing the highway at night.
 
“This is the rainy season and that fact, coupled with the poor lighting conditions on some parts of the highway lends to a decrease in visibility. It could be as simple as putting reflective tape on the jersey barriers so that persons can clearly see where the potential dangers lie or utilising more conspicuous warning signals, because too often lights are out on the highway and that poses a greater hazard to motorists and other road users,” she said.
 
On that note, Roland-Bowen again raised the issue of pedestrians crossing the jersey barriers, and reiterated the BRSA’s call for Government to give consideration to introducing penalties for pedestrian offences. Her comments came as she lamented that too many pedestrians are still engaging in the dangerous habit of crossing over the jersey barriers on the ABC highway, especially in the area of the Caribbean Broadcasting Corporation where there is a pedestrian overpass, and others are crossing the road within sight distance of zebra crossings.
 
“We continually see persons trying with difficulty to get over the jersey barriers even though there is serious danger involved. So if the possibility of losing one’s life or being injured is not a deterrent to these individuals, then I am sure that penalising the ones caught in the act will. If they don’t care about their lives, hit them in their pockets because they will never know when the police would turn up,” she said.
 
The BRSA president is adamant that the same way the system introduced the seat belt law and persons are complying with it, the authorities must state unequivocally that pedestrians should not cross the barriers, and those who do will find themselves before the law courts.
 
“That seat belt law has no doubt saved many, many, many, many lives and we feel strongly that introducing penalties for pedestrians who disregard the proper use of the road is a step in the right direction. Other countries have it; they call them jaywalking laws and include such things as crossing within sight distance of a zebra crossing and crossing the jersey barriers. We can draw on the best practices in those countries and introduce it too,” she maintained. 
 
 

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