As the life of this administration progresses, the public will have an excellent opportunity to test the promises of the APNU+AFC government and evaluate the efficacy of its policies. Among the many areas is the effectiveness of its plans in relation to traffic deaths which continue to be unacceptably high.
On Thursday, Traffic Chief, Dion Moore told the Government Information Agency (GINA) that for the year 80 fatal accidents have been recorded compared to 65 last year.
This is a whopping 23% hike and reflected in almost daily cases of pedestrian deaths and horrific collisions. Often overlooked is the devastation to the livelihoods of the badly injured, costly hospitalisation and the long periods of recovery and disability.
The majority of these needless deaths is attributable to speeding on the roads and highways and driving under the influence. These are the two areas where the APNU+AFC administration was expected to make a significant impact. Thus far, there is no sign of any effective intervention and this is reflected in the rising number of fatalities.
Traffic Chief Moore on Thursday said, “We’re upping our enforcement drive and we will continue”. GINA also reported that the traffic division has brought 45,772 cases against errant drivers.
How many times haven’t we heard of these enforcement drives? The mere bringing of traffic cases will have no impact on the number of casualties. What is clearly needed are drastic steps against speeding and drunk driving but there isn’t sufficient evidence that the police are employing the many radar guns they are supposed to be in possession of and cracking down harder on driving under the influence. Speeding, most likely the most significant factor in road fatalities, continues unabated. The $7,000 fine usually imposed on drivers found guilty of driving under the influence is so laughable that until stiffer penalties are applied there is unlikely to be a deterrent effect.
The problems are well known and the solutions appear to be common sense but they still have to be effectively applied. While in opposition, President Granger had spoken passionately about the impact of traffic deaths and what should be done to curb them. In a July, 2011 broadcast to the nation on CNS Channel Six on the traffic carnage, Mr Granger had scathingly criticised then Home Affairs Minister Clement Rohee over the continuing deaths and accusing him of not doing anything about the problem.
“The Ministry of Home Affairs can prevent most road accidents if it implemented correct policing, rigorous law-enforcement, efficient road engineering and proper licensing of vehicle drivers. These have not happened under the PPP/C,” Mr Granger had said then.
Mr Granger also urged that Mr Rohee display a greater sense of responsibility with respect to road safety. “After nearly five years at the Ministry, he must be aware that the problem is that too many persons drive too fast and too few traffic policemen are deployed on the rural roadways where and when speeding is rampant, both by day and night,” he said, while adding that the PPP/C Administration had a lot more work to do to make this country’s roads safe. By this standard, the APNU+AFC administration also has a lot more work to do. It has been content to operate on auto drive for the most part expecting that the problems would just go away. They won’t. They will likely worsen given the poor respect for law and order among citizens and the brutal, jungle-like culture of the road.
It is also appropriate to note that on November 4th last year, President Granger was a key speaker at the launch of a three-pronged plan to limit traffic deaths. Speaking at the ceremony to launch Road Safety Month, the President said among other things that, “There is need for greater education to instruct our people, both drivers and passengers, on the dangers of speeding. Our drivers, particularly drivers of mini buses, hire cars and taxis must be re-educated, re-trained and re-certified to enable them to qualify to be responsible for driving vehicles with passengers, as opposed to cargoes, on our roads”.
He had also stated that commercial licences should not be granted unless the applicant has proven their suitability. Thus far there is no sign that the Ministry of Public Security or the Police Traffic Department have unspooled any of these initiatives either for want of resources or resourcefulness. There will be no impact on traffic deaths unless this government gets serious about speeding and drunk driving.
Penalties for these two infractions have to be stiffened. Traffic ranks have to be deployed en masse in the corridors of the highest road deaths, which have already been identified based on studies, to bolster law enforcement.
The range of other problems which have contributed to annual road deaths of over 100 continue as they did under the PPP/C government. One of these is the parking or abandoning of vehicles on highways resulting in smash-ups as was the case at Mahaica on Wednesday. Poor infrastructure, absence of road lighting, stray animals and tyre blowouts remain just as visible as they were before. There clearly is a lot of work ahead for the Granger administration in this arena.
