The Barbados Road Safety Association (BRSA) is speaking out against road rage and calling on the relevant authorities to put measures in place to curb this unseemly and dangerous behaviour.
President, Sharmane Roland-Bowen raised the issue yesterday morning at the Association’s Awards Ceremony, held at the Alpha 126 Traffic School, as she noted that too often persons are unwilling to compromise when driving and this is a cause for concern. A problem, which she is suggesting, is more common among men than women. She said while a woman would be more willing to back down and not take risks; a man may not see it quite the same way.
“A man may see another man as a challenge. He is overtaken by this man and he wants to get back at him – all of these are things that men go through and cause accidents on our roads. You don’t want to back down, I don’t want to back down and that is where the conflict comes… some unnecessary aggressive driving and road rage on our roads,” she noted.
Roland-Bowen added, “I know most of us saw that road rage incident on our televisions a couple of nights ago and… we at the Barbados Road Safety Association we don’t tolerate, nor we don’t condone any form of aggressive driving or road rage on our roads, and this is something that needs to be spoken about. We need the authorities to do what they have to do, take their responsibility and put measures in place that would allow for safer roads for everyone.”
The BRSA President was referring to a video which has been circulating the Internet and was carried on the news, showing an incident between a car and a group of motorcyclists. She is therefore adamant that no category of drivers should be allowed to take command of the roads, and while she is commending the Royal Barbados Police Force for their efforts to tackle such aggressive driving, she feels that there is still more that can be done.
“But as I said earlier, their [police] hands are tied and the only person who can untie their hands is our Attorney General and the legislators… providing the tools, not only the tools and equipment, but also certain facilities that would allow our officers to confiscate some of these vehicles and auction them off,” the President stated.
Roland-Bowen made the point as she noted that these persons engaging in such bad driving habits are a danger to themselves, but to others as well. Using motorcyclists as an example, she said anytime they are involved in collisions, they are likely the ones to come out the loser.
“We cannot allow this to continue on our roads. I hope the Attorney General is listening and I hope they do intend to act soon, act swiftly, otherwise it is going to continue. We see it is more predominant today than it was a couple of years back, and it is only going to get worse if nothing is done,” she warned.
She is making an appeal to the authorities to take concrete steps to get a handle on the problem before it gets outs of hand. (JRT)
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