Road carnage must stop!
Dear Editor,
The media reported a tragic crash in Ocho Rios recently, in which a vehicle overtaking a line of traffic slammed into the back of a parked fire truck. A young firefighter who was in the back replacing equipment after finishing a shift died in the crash. This happened midafternoon, around 2:40 pm. Another senseless tragedy caused by a reckless driver who was in a hurry and didn’t care about anyone else in that moment.
Authorities must take a more serious approach to clamping down on the indiscipline and carnage on the roads. The Road Traffic Act is being enhanced with a demerit point system which could result in licence suspension. This is long overdue, and we hope the Act will be enforced to punish drivers who continue to breach the road code, putting other users at risk.
Drivers in haste should not be allowed to drive, neither should those who breach the road code repeatedly and drive dangerously. I would also suggest that suspensions of a year should require enrolment in a defensive driver course, at the person’s expense, before any consideration of reinstatement of licence is made.
Until stiffer penalties are imposed, some people won’t learn. Breaches stem from indiscipline and a culture in which people think they can get away with most things or buy their way out of it should they face a monetary penalty. When drivers start losing their licences and face harsh penalties for driving with a suspended licence, maybe then will they take road safety more seriously.
P Chin
chin_p@yahoo.com