Kill speed, not lives

Dear Editor,
Despite the months of relentless visibility of our traffic police, and the remarkable 30% reduction in road fatalities in 2008, we are once again witnessing a weekly upsurge of mangled vehicles emblazoned on the front pages of our daily newspapers and on our television sets.

It is even worse seeing the pain, shock and disbelief on the faces of those persons who have lost a loved one on our roads. To hear again and again a Mother’s torturous cry having been told that, “yes” her son/daughter has been killed must not be called an accident. It can only be deemed in this under-populated country of ours, another avoidable death.

Speeding, drinking and driving, drag racing, multi-million dollar trucks parked with little or no reflectors on an unlit highway… do I need to continue? Loss of life and the unnamed hundreds of persons injured through such lawlessness is unforgivable.
This carnage must stop. You, who sit behind that wheel, think twice before you turn that ignition key. Think responsibly and drive with care.

Sunday is Mothers Day. Though we eventually learn to conceal our pain we can no longer share the joy of this special day. Kill speed, not lives.

Yours for the safety of our children.
Yours faithfully,
Denise Dias
The Alicea Foundation/Mothers
in Black