ToolsPoor law enforcement, drinking culture – deadly mixI continue to read, with a profound sense of sadness and concern, about the horrific occurrence of road carnage in T&T. I refer to the Palance Bar incident and, more recently, to the Celestine Persad tragedy in Penal. It appears that, in the Palance Bar incident, alcohol and the convenient "catch-all" bad drive excuse were the main culprits. There is no doubt that we are, traditionally, a drinking culture, but it's time that we became more responsible in our drinking and driving habits and more responsive to the needs of both the driving and non-driving public. Having just returned from a month-long visit to my homeland I wish to offer a few observations. There must be questions about the physical and mechanical condition of many vehicles on the country's roads. As I understand it, vehicles must be inspected for road-worthiness at regular intervals by qualified facilities, several of which are scattered around the country. I have personal experience of one such "inspection". It appears that there are inspection facilities which complete inspection checklists, collect the requisite fee and "pass" the applicant without even looking at the vehicle! It might well have been a donkey cart parked out front! These traffic issues are not unique to T&T nor are the laws and regulations any different from other jurisdictions. What we severely lack are regular and routine enforcement and a driving culture which respects other road users and, indeed, ourselves. Max Yee Fung Vancouver |
This content requires the latest Adobe Flash Player and a browser with JavaScript enabled.
Click here for a free download of the latest Adobe Flash Player.
PublicationsExpress PollMost Popular
Weather |
Most Popular