We have all heard stories of many people having obtained driving permits by helping a few individuals at the many licensing offices to "eat ah food' and skip taking any of the required tests. Then we go out and teach others to drive. God help us all.
Then there are the many who have disregarded their drivers' training for convenience with their "get me there fast" mentality. This leaves a handful of people that actually do the right thing when operating a vehicle on the nation's roads. We have become self-centered, selfish and self-righteous. Courtesy on the road is "move leh meh pass", for they will certainly run you off the road rather than allow you your right of way. And this applies whether you are another vehicle or pedestrian.
We do not want to slow down or stop or give the right of way to others. I have come to the realisation that new cars do not come with indicators and they do not work in the older cars, for few people use them. You have to be part psychic to know that a vehicle is going to turn, and then they would drive the front of their car into oncoming traffic forcing the oncoming vehicle to come to a screeching halt.
Stopping at the white line at an intersection is a thing of the past. Drivers drive straight into the major road, again sticking their fronts directly in the line of oncoming traffic, and yes, more screeching to a halt by oncoming vehicles.We speed unnecessarily on our roads-highway or local, it does not matter which. We want to get there fast. Even though "there" is just around the corner.
Speaking of "around de corner". Trinis would jump in their cars to go "around de corner" rather than get some good ole exercise by walking, but that's another story, maybe.
We would drive on the shoulder of the highways to avoid traffic, no matter how small the traffic. I saw cars on the Piarco Boulevard one morning climbing the curb to create a third lane instead of waiting in line for the lights. Doh talk about those "brave" drivers who use the Priority Bus Route, yuh should see them screech to a halt and turn around meekly when they see the traffic police on de road.
We yell at pedestrians for walking in the street, even if there are no sidewalks, like we expect them to jump into the box drain as we speed by.
Also, we park our cars on the sidewalks blocking the pedestrians forcing them to walk into the street, such irony. We talk on our cellphones while driving as if the phones were grafted to our ears. We play music at a very loud volume from our vehicles that people two blocks away can not only hear but also have their buildings shake.
Some of us still refuse to wear seatbelts when we drive or even secure our children in required car seats. Apparently, it is better to hold our kids in our laps on the front seats. I have seen people driving with their kids on their laps playing with the steering wheel.
We park our cars in front of people's gates. We party, lime and drink (most of us excessively) and then jump into our vehicles to drive to another destination, alarmingly with willing passengers.The number of road deaths in T&T is almost rivalling murders. Many road deaths have been attributed to drunk drivers and others to drivers that are sleep-deprived. All mentioned above are illegal, but what do we care; there are no enforcement of our road laws. It is all about "us". God help "us" all.
John Gaskin,
via e-mail