Seatbelts are meant to save lives but this was not the case for Frank Moses and his friend Jeneice Bailey, who died when the car they were in skidded off the road and plunged into a swollen river at Santa Flora, where it is believed the safety devices kept them pinned down as they drowned.
Moses's twin brother Frankie, who was driving the car, escaped shortly before the car sank hood down into the river off the Santa Flora Main Road. The accident occurred around 4 pm on Sunday.
Frankie was too traumatised to speak yesterday, but other relatives said he told them he tried to save his brother and friend but the seatbelts were jammed tight and prevented him from getting out of the sinking car.
Frank Moses, 54, of Alexander Road, Point Ligore, worked as a foreman at the Point Fortin Borough Corporation. Bailey, 35, had two children, Kareem, 11, and Afeisha, 10, and worked at a bar close to her home.
In an interview yesterday, Moses's common-law wife, Joanne Assong, said he went to the market with her on Sunday morning and promised to return home early to help her clean the yard. However, she said, while at the market Moses met friend Steve Romeo, who asked him for a lift home.
"My husband was a good, kind-hearted man. He agreed to drop home Steve, so he dropped me home first and said he was coming back to eat lunch," Joanne recalled.
She said she did not know what happened after that, but some time later she got a call that his car had sunk in the river.
Describing Frank as a loving husband, Assong said it was unfortunate that the seatbelt which was meant to save him ended up killing him.
"It real hard thinking about life without him," Assong said.
Meanwhile, Bailey's mother, Jill, was inconsolable and declined comment on her daughter's death. However, Bailey's sister, Ebonie, said the mother of two had plans to do nursing.
"She did not enroll as yet but that was what she wanted," Ebonie said.
She described Bailey as outspoken and fun loving.
A neighbour, who requested anonymity, said Bailey had been out liming for much of the day.
The bodies of the deceased were taken to the Forensic Science Centre, St James, for autopsies. Investigations are continuing.
Rare occurrence–Batson
Former president of the group Arrive Alive and one of the coordinators at the Road Safety Council, PC Brent Batson, said yesterday that the deaths of Jeneice Bailey and Frank Moses should not deter people from wearing seatbelts.
Saying seatbelts have been proven to save lives, Batson said what happened to the two friends was a rare occurrence. He said the focus should be what caused them to run off the road and end up in the river, noting there is no real evidence to suggest that the seatbelts were jammed.
"We do not know if the belt was jammed or if the occupants panicked. We don't know whether the angle of the occupants was such that the survivor could not access the latch to release the seatbelts," Batson told the T&T Guardian in a telephone interview.
"We are uncertain about how much water they could have been submerged in before they died. We cannot say the seatbelts caused the deaths because we do not know the facts."
He admitted, however, that seatbelts are built to lock with inertia, which is every object's resistance to changing its speed and direction of travel.
Batson also said there was nothing preventing people from buying seatbelt cutters in the event of an emergency. However, he pointed out that even if there is a crisis, it may be difficult for someone trapped in a car to access the glove compartment where the seatbelt cutter would be stored. He called on citizens to remember the importance of wearing seatbelts in the event of an accident, adding that one stands a better chance of survival with them on.