Traffic dept. reports over 1,000 accidents

The Traffic Department of the Road Town Police Station has reported that approximately 1,000 road accidents have occurred for the year thus far, at the end of August. This is according to Head of the Traffic Department Inspector, Kenrick Headley. Around the same period last year, there were 1,024 road accidents.

“Some of them or most of them (fender benders) can be avoided. A lot of rear end collisions occur because people are not patient and they fail to adhere to a road sign,” the traffic head said.

According to Inspector Headley, the contributing factors for the accidents are mainly distractions, such as persons using cell phones while driving, eating and driving, gazing and speeding.

“The internal and external environment of the car is important and drivers need to be aware of this. Turning on and off a radio can be a simple distraction for causing an accident,” he explained.

Cell phones and driving

“I’m one of the persons who believe that you do not have to make a call whilst driving. There is a difference when you receive a call and if you receive a call; you can ignore it or use a hands free device. There is no reason you should pick up your phone and text or make a call.”

Traffic officers, he said, have been issuing a number of tickets to delinquent drivers for using cell phones when driving and for not wearing their seat belts.

“We have received numerous complaints from persons about the enforcement issues. Some people believe we are ticketing only two types of offenses- the seat belts and cell phones…yes, the cell phones continue to be the piece of equipment being used illegally by all facets of society,” Inspector Headley said.

Advice to motorists

His advice to road users is for them to always be alert. “Always be on the lookout for a driver that will stop abruptly, remain a safe distance behind a vehicle, and pedestrians should pay attention to traffic, don’t be distracted,” he cautioned.

Meanwhile, one of the major challenges for the department is the lack of adequate human resources. According to Inspector Headley, the tourist season is approaching, which means that there will be an increase in vehicular traffic and also an increase in the number of pedestrians using the roadways.

Despite this, the department does not get a boost in its human resources to facilitate the tourist season. According to Headley, if he is to make a request for more traffic officers, he would ask for ten.

However, while this is not yet possible, the Inspector explained that the department tries its best to educate the public on the ‘dos and don’ts’ when utilizing the road way. In the peak hours during the day he said that there is the combination of vehicular traffic and pedestrians on the roads.

While the department has had numerous requests from schools on the island to facilitate the crossing of the children, the demands cannot be met due to the lack of human resources he said.

The department also faces another challenge as it relates to inadequate parking facilities, especially with the business sector in Road Town. In this regard, Headley said that government’s intervention will be needed in order to establish building guidelines for the construction of proposed buildings to have adequate parking facilities.