Submitted by Anthony Davis
The Barbados Transport Authority today suspended the permit of the owner of ZR 125 with immediate effect, after the van driven by Matthew Daniel of My Lords Hill, St. Michael overturned near the River Bus Terminal in the City, injuring 10 school children, including a Springer Memorial student […] who was pinned under the vehicle – Barbados Today 09 June, 2015
Dear Mr. Minister of Transport and Works, your statement that “the behaviour of these operators is getting out of hand”, must be deemed the understatement of the year, because everyone who lives on this island know that that happened eons ago. Daily one sees them breaking the laws as if they own the highways and byways of Barbados. They stop wherever and whenever they like – in the middle of the road – especially if there is a Transport Board bus behind them. They don’t care that the bus has a much longer braking distance, so the bus driver has to be vigilant if she/he doesn’t want to run into the back of them. This happens several times with the bus driver getting frustrated because he can’t overtake them and this puts the driver under unnecessary stress to do her/his best not to rear end the vehicle and therefore cause the commuters to arrive late at their various destinations.
Most appalling is the situation where a number of them use Broad Street, Cheapside, Wharf Road, and Princess Alice Highway as their personal Bushy Park, driving whichever direction they feel like, and driving through by the Cenotaph. I would suggest that there is cordoned off when it isn’t in use. I wonder why the authorities do not set up cameras along such roads – not only in Bridgetown, but in the others as well!
I would also suggest that it must be made mandatory for school children to take the school buses except, of course, in areas where there is no Transport Board bus service and where no school bus is available. Several school buses leave the terminals on mornings for the various schools and many of the students don’t take them, preferring to get the ones for the other commuters, forcing those who are trying to get to work and the elderly to stand.
The technology is there, so why not use it?
For what are we paying so much tax?
Every minibus and ZR driver must have proper training as many of them should not even be allowed to transport cattle. The police cannot be everywhere, so the transport inspectors of the Ministry of Transport and Works must become more visible to alleviate the burden on the police.
On the other hand, I cannot comprehend why people can be so stupid to get into a van which is overloaded. Such people must be devoid of the slightest smidgen of common sense, because there will certainly not be any insurance being paid out. Up to this morning (10 June, 2015), the day after the mass casualty situation, ZRs were racing up Broad St. and down Wharf Rd. and Princess Alice Highway. This shows the utter contempt of the drivers of such vehicles for the laws of our country. They only think about themselves – if they do such a thing at all!
They drive around with a Guinness bottle in their hands, and still people board the said vehicles. Are they seeking a joy ride to hell?
Many people encourage this nonsense by not going to the bus stops. No wonder many of them are getting so fat. They don’t want to walk the short distances to/from the bus stop.
What’s the use of making sure they wear uniforms if you can’t change their behaviour?
Many of them don’t seem to care about their own lives, so how can you expect them to care about other people’s?
They even have the tourists waiting outside their hotels instead of going to the bus stop now. Heavy fines must be imposed on the drivers and the owners. A uniform does not a careful, law abiding, responsible driver make, Mr. Minister of Transport and Works!
His/her attitude must change and it seems as if that will be a Sisyphean task!
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