Friday 8 April 2016

Slow Your Role


The streets of Trinidad are filled with all types of road users, whether it may be cyclist, motorists or even pedestrians. However, the questions may be asked... Is there a hierarchy of power for these road users? Are the needs of a driver more important than the needs of a pedestrian? These questions are influenced based on the issue, that some motorist of Trinidad continue to break speed limits, neglect important traffic signals and pay little attention to the road as they are distracted by their fancy handheld devices, whilst driving.

Heavy traffic flow and congestion can be directly associated to urbanised and centralized areas. According to Robinson (1984), Traffic congestion results when there are too many vehicles for the available road space. He further stated that congestion is likely to be experienced with greatest severity in and around the major employment nodes such as the central business district during the morning and afternoon 
Photograph by Joseph Weekes 
(April 2nd, 2016) 

peaks. Port-of- Spain for example encounters similar activity during such hours, and as a result more road accidents occur.

Why is that? One may ask. The answer to that is simple, during these peak hours motorists are in a rush to get to work on time on mornings, and after a long day, are usually tired and want to reach their final destinations as quickly as possible. Thus, if such is not achieved at a suitable rate for the motorists, they become impatient and therefore break laws put in place by government to regulate road use, e.g. traffic lights, give way signs and other road signals. Motorists have also been reported to be travelling on the sidewalks of streets, completely disregarding the respect for the space of pedestrians. Moreover, these motorists not only put themselves at risk, but risk the lives of other road users in the process. In the column written by La-Vende (2014) in Trinidad and Tobago Guardian Online reported a pedestrian killed in a hit-and-run accident in Curepe, another urbanised area in Trinidad on March 16th 2014, where an eyewitness said that the driver ran a red-light and struck a middle-aged man in the process. This careless act exemplified by the motorists, not only shows insubordination towards laws and regulations of the country, but also absolutely no care or remorse for the pedestrian which he struck.
Arrive Alive! Is the cry of governments worldwide as they urged motorists to adhere to road regulations, and be pay attention to other road users. “There is no need to speed”, said the Arrive Alive President Sharon Inglefield as he expressed in one of his articles.
No one road user is superior to the next and therefore each individual purpose for being on the road should be taken into consideration and valued, thus a conscious effort should be made to exercise caution when using the road, which in turn result in you saving someone’s’ life and even your own.
“Leave sooner, drive slower, live longer”- Dudley Moore



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