There is a continued indifference by the Government to implement effective road safety strategies and this is demonstrated by the ongoing road carnage in the country. This is the view of Brent Batson, president of Arrive Alive, after two major road accidents occurred over the weekend in which four people died. According to the Traffic Branch of the T&T Police Service report, the road traffic accidents figure stands at 56 with 74 deaths as of June 3. The figure does not include the accidents that occurred over the weekend. During a telephone interview yesterday, Batson said that T&T had also failed to reduce its annual road fatality figure below 200 over the past five years.
"It is already half of the year and we are fast approaching 100 deaths, and it seems as if T&T will go over the 200 mark again," he said. "The road carnage in T&T demonstrates how the continued lack of effective road safety strategies by authorities results in the preventable loss of life and limb on our nation's roads." Consequently, he said, it was quite apparent that there was the view by all Governments that road traffic collisions were a "natural" side effect of our road transportation networks. But, he noted that in developed countries, there was an understanding of the concept of prevention and a view that road traffic accidents were evidence of transport systems failure.
The measures the Government had implemented such as wardens, breathalysers, stiffer traffic penalties and even speed guns would continue to have zero effect unless they were integrated into a road safety management system, said Batson. This system must consist of data driven by target reduction measures and an effective traffic offender management system together with a sustained educational campaign. He stated that United Nations was mandating that all member countries institutedcollision reduction and mitigation management systems.
"But it is only through a multi-sector approach can intervention strategies be effective to create safer drivers, safer roads and safer vehicles," Batson said. A 2008 Global Status Report on Road Safety-A Country report for T&T, stated that as motorisation increased, road traffic injuries were predicted to become the eighth leading cause of death by 2030. The report also said that in order to stem the number of road traffic accidents, injuries and death on T&T's roadways, there needed to be co-ordinated and collaborative intervention using sound approaches. It also noted that preventive measures needed to be developed, implemented and enforced, but without the political will and commitment, little could be achieved.