Patricia Gill - self employed: ‘Well, I think it’s a very good idea, it will save a lot of lives. And it’s something that should have been done a long time ago. I just hope the authorities who have implemented the law now make an effort to ensure that it is enforced. They implement a lot of things here and usually forget about it. They need to impose the fines and show people that they need to wear the seatbelts. This is something that could save the lives of a lot of young people because road accidents usually take a lot of young lives. I live in Barbados and from the time they enforced the seatbelt law, while there were accidents, a lot of lives were also saved. Some people may believe that we are too late but it’s never too late. A lot of lives will be saved.’

Mark Roberts - taxi driver: ‘It makes a lot of sense and I completely agree with the [implementation of the law]. It’s for safety. A lot of the time many people come into the car with young children, or babies, who they have in their laps. And if you get into an accident they jerk forward and sometimes they could end up hitting their heads against the windscreen. The seatbelt will protect them from that. It prevents a lot of injury. Some people are afraid but the danger may only exist in the case of automatic vehicles where the seat belts lock automatically and you are more likely to be pinned if you get into an accident. That isn’t a problem for the manual seatbelts. And so far I haven’t seen any stubborn people. As soon as I ask them to put it on they will comply.’

Chunilall Lall - minibus driver: ‘The seatbelt is generally made for the safety of the driver and the passengers, but what I find is the travelling public is resistant to the use of seatbelts. Especially people who want short drops, they find it particularly cumbersome and troublesome. They have to put it on and take it off too often. It is their view also, I share some of it, that if a vehicle ends up in a trench and you are fastened down by the seatbelt the consequences can be more bad than good. I have been a minibus driver for close to ten years and I don’t see it making any significant impact on reducing the number of deaths where accidents are concerned. But it’s for safety and I support the use of seatbelts.’

Annie Adams - retiree: `I think it’s very good because it will save lives. I welcome it. If the bus or car gets into an accident, it will prevent you from being hurled forward. I am glad they finally decided to enforce the law. I lived in Ohio [in the United States of America] and it was a must there, you had to put on your seatbelt, it was the law. This is part of coming into the modern times with the rest of the world. As for those people who are afraid, I would tell them not to be negative because the good outweighs the bad and it will save lives.’

Salim - minibus driver: ‘I welcome it. It makes it safe for the passengers in the front. If an animal ends up in front of the vehicle and you slam on the brakes, in most cases the passengers are going to fly into the windscreen. The seatbelt will protect those passengers. Some people are afraid that they will become pinned down let’s say if the bus falls into a trench, but you can always be pinned down. A lot of people are also complaining that they were not ready for the law, but the bill was passed six months ago by Parliament. They had six months with which to become compliant.’

Sharon Joaquin - housewife: ‘I think it’s a very good idea because a lot of times minibuses are usually speeding and a lot of people get injured when they get into accidents. I believe that they should consider putting them in all the seats in the cars and minibuses because all passengers face the same danger and that might also stop conductors from packing up the bus. I genuinely think that it will make a big difference, because I have travelled to other countries and I have seen it in minibuses there. So why can’t it work here?’

Barbara Nunes - housewife: ‘I think the seatbelts are worth it because there are a lot of accidents where people in the front seat are injured. I think now most of the people who are afraid are just not accustomed to using the seatbelts. But the law is already in a lot of other countries, like in Trinidad and Tobago for example. I think it will reduce the number of people who die in road accidents and I think people should try to comply with it. It’s for everyone’s safety.’

Leonard Singh - clerk: ‘That’s the right thing that they are doing and it should have been done ever since. But I have heard some people say that it’s dangerous since you could get into an accident and the seatbelt could trap you. I think that’s why they took so long to implement the law because they were weighing both sides to it. I personally believe that it will go a long way towards reducing the number of casualties from road accidents.’

Pansy Forde - labourer: ‘I have no problem with the seatbelts because they could save your life and I believe that everybody should wear one. That is from the passengers in the front seats to the passengers in the back. I think that will also prevent overloading in the minibus. But why are they only stressing on the front seats alone? This could save a lot of passengers’ lives in both front and back seats.’