Road deaths trigger new safety campaign
A dawn march launches a new safety campaign
(CNS): The deaths of both Marcia Donald and Donnie Ray Connor last month — a jogger and a cyclist who were killed on the roads in separate early morning collisions just days apart — have triggered a new safety campaigned. Hundreds of people turned out at dawn on Saturday morning for a memorial walk to raise awareness about careless and drunk driving with the goal of reducing the number of accidents on the road.
Millicent Webster, a friends of Donald, who was killed in South Sound on 25 April when she was out jogging, is starting the campaign to address any kind of reckless driving and to encourage people not to drive after drinking or when tired or to use their phones behind the wheel and put an end to dangerous driving
Deputy Governor Franz Manderson, who was one of hundreds of people who turned out for the walk, said these things should not be happening in our community. “It’s a tragedy. We feel for her friends and family and co-workers and I wanted to show support for the cause, which is raising awareness about dangerous driving,” he said.
Marco Archer, one of the six George Town MLAs and the minister for finance who also joined Saturday morning’s walk, said he believed that the level of interest in the campaign triggered by the tragic circumstances would have a significant impact on people’s driving habitats.
However, he said that government may need to designate clearer places or tracks and walking areas for people to exercise early in the morning, along with better lighting. It was clear from the size of the event that people were concerned about the problems on the roads, he added, saying it would force people to look differently at things.
Donalds died just days after Connor was knocked of his bicycle on the Linford Pierson Highway in the early hours of Thursday 23 April.
Donald was the seventh person to be killed on the roads so far this year, one of the highest death tolls ever, causing alarm about how many people are drinking and driving, speeding, using their phones and not paying attention when behind the wheel. Nicholas Tibbetts, an Immigration officer from Bodden Town, has been charged with killing Connor, and although he left the scene, it is understood that drink was behind that fatal smash. A 25 year old driver was arrested immediately after Donalds was killed for DUI but the man has not yet been charged.
According to statistics released by the RCIPS last week there were well over 200 crashes on local roads in just the first three months of the year.
Category: Local News
Uber and a more widespread Homesafe system would help dramatically as well as getting buy in from bar staff to help punters make good decisions.
>KYD$30mln are budgeted by CIG and paid to the RCIPS annually in return for non-functioning cctv, ‘stealth’ helicopter rooftop buzzing, public admonitions, Ritz Carlton fetes, botched trials, and warehouses of decade-old unsolved crimes. At the very least, one would hope that some of that misplaced budget could be directed to a traffic department/system, providing a semblance of public order, and the very modest and achievable task of enforcing the Traffic Law (2011) 24x7x365. A functioning visible traffic division, if it existed, would be self-funding, and lower all crime stats.
This is a good opportunity for the group to continue to bring awareness to the cause of drunk driving , texting while driving . The group should lobby government now while they are aware of these issues.
Just the sweet talk of hypocrites with know traffic department just how do they expect to enforce these Road safety initiatives and the traffic law. Those who now speak need to hold those who dissolved the traffic department to account for these deaths.
There is not curb or light or sidewalk that will prevent a driver from falling asleep at the wheel no matter what time of day.
Is that what happened?