Woman crashes car outside Parliament

An accident outside the Parliament building on Wrightson Road, Port-of-Spain, yesterday left a red sports car mounted on the median and the young female driver shaken and crying. The accident occurred at 1.05 pm as the car was headed west along Wrightson Road.

A T&T Guardian reporter, standing at the traffic lights opposite the Parliament, witnessed the PBZ-licensed Mazda go slowly past Tower D. As if in slow motion, it mounted the median in the middle of Wrightson Road with a loud crash. The young woman behind the wheel could clearly be seen with her head tilted slightly back, as the car climbed the median.

The woman, who appeared to be in her 20s, climbed out of the wrecked car a few minutes after. She seemed dazed and disoriented and was crying. She declined to give her name to the T&T Guardian. Police and officials from Parliament crossed the road and spoke with her as police and fire officials from the nearby stations rushed to the scene.

Fire officers also blocked a part of the road with their trucks to divert traffic while they removed the car. The accident startled a handful of  people who were protesting the detention of Cheryl Miller at St Ann’s Hospital. They said they were colleagues of Miller, an employee of the Ministry of Gender, Youth and Child Development.

Spokesman for the group Jennifer Frederick Taylor said the way Miller was detained was “very inhumane and illegal.” “We’ve heard nothing from the minister,” she said. “We’d like to know what process was followed and what would happen to staff is one of us had an outburst also.

“If it happened to Cheryl, it could happen to us.” The group temporarily halted their protest while they stared at the accident.