Arrive Alive Trinidad and Tobago

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“Our ethnic, religious, and cultural diversity; our intellectual and creative capacity; our inherent wealth of natural resources which provide us with an abundance of financial resources; our small geographic area and minute population all provide Trinidad & Tobago with the essential elements necessary to create a society for the world to model.”

Dear Minister Imbert,

At our meeting on August 26th, 2009 you promised that by December 31st, 2009 the following would be implemented:

• The breathalyser.
• The radar/speed gun.
• Amendments to the seatbelt law.
• Significantly increased fines for all traffic offences.

The implementation of the breathalyser has been realized and for this we commend you. It is now the job of the Police to carry out its enforcement effectively and efficiently. While it is way too early to speak of it as a success, it is fair to say that it continues to impact the decision making of many individuals on the issue of drinking and driving. That said however, its implementation represents only one small step in the right direction.

You would be aware that laws pertaining to driving under the influence of alcohol have been on the books for a long time. The only difference is the fact that people for the first time appreciate that (1) they can be caught if in violation and (2) there are now meaningful consequences; two very necessary tools to instill and maintain discipline.

Already as of February 2, 2010 at 9AM, 25 Trinbagonian lives have been lost on our nation’s roads. Reports indicate that some were ejected from their vehicles and at least one resulted from someone breaking a red light; looking at pictures of the mangled vehicles, it not unreasonable to assume that excessive speed may have been a factor in many of these crashes.

Law Enforcement agents cannot begin to control speed if they are unable to even measure it. It is unreasonable to expect Police Officers to use a stop watch and a white flag to catch people who break the speed limit. That method is long outdated, painfully inefficient, and can be used only in broad daylight. Radar technology to measure motor vehicle speeding infractions needs to be implemented immediately.

Being in breach of the seatbelt law needs to be made an offense for which a ticket can be issued. It needs to be applicable to wherever a seatbelt is available in a vehicle; and it must include specific directives for securing children being transported.

Minister Nunez-Tesheira, in her 2010 budget presentation, notably promised the implementation of significantly increased fines for traffic violations by the end of 2009. To our great regret and disappointment these too went unrealized. Discipline and personal responsibility are behaviors learned from the clear understanding that there is meaningful consequence, good or bad, for engaging in certain actions. Significant fines directly represent meaningful consequence.

Abraham Lincoln once said “Politicians serve their party best when they put their Country First”. Your first job, as that of any other elected public official is the safety and security of our citizens. There are laws that need to be implemented to keep us safe. The infrastructure, technological and otherwise is readily available and would quite visibly appear to be in line with government’s stated “2020 Vision”. It’s not rocket science. LET’S GET IT DONE!!!

Respectfully,

ARRIVE ALIVE!

The Breathalyser is here and we are embarking on an educational campaign! See our first ad explaining some of the ins and outs.

Traffic, in our opinion, has become the most important arm of the Police Service, as it represents the first line of offence with the ability to screen criminals and illicit weapons in transit through the simple and effective enforcement of the most basic traffic laws.

The above graph shows the number of road traffic accidents that involved at least one fatality and the number of fatalities from those accidents.