Over six years ago, about twenty women dressed in black gathered outside the Parliament Buildings in Georgetown at noon on Friday July 7 to protest the deaths of their children in traffic accidents. They promised that one of their numbers would stand there at the same time every Friday until the Motor Vehicle and Traffic Act was revised.
It is a shame that the Mothers have had to resume their public protests.
Theirs was not a demand for personal privileges or official favours. They simply sought the introduction of tests for persons suspected of driving under the influence of alcohol or other narcotics; radar traps for the detection of drivers exceeding the speed limit; suspension of the driving licences of persons involved in traffic fatalities until they were found culpable in the courts; increased fines for traffic accidents so that they act as a real deterrent; and the mandatory use of safety belts for adults and safety seats for children.
At first, 'Mothers in Black,' as they came to be known, were accorded benign attention by the Commissioner of Police and other political leaders. They took their campaign to Anna Regina, Linden and New Amsterdam with the expectation that peaceful protest against traffic accidents would persuade the Administration to act decisively to make the roads safer.
They got nowhere. Eventually, the Mothers discontinued their Friday protests but, in light of the fatal accidents in September, October and November, they resumed. Mrs Denise Dias, who lost her teenage daughter to a drunken, speeding driver who had caused another fatal accident seven months earlier and then fled the jurisdiction, is leading the renewed thrust. Convinced that many of the road fatalities seemed to have involved drivers who were 'under the influence,' the Mothers have focused their campaign again on breathalyser testing of drivers.
This year, of course, there are even more Mothers mourning children killed on the roadways. This time, also, they were joined by parliamentarians Deborah Backer of the People's National Congress Reform (PNCR) and Chantalle Smith of the Alliance For Change. Whether political activism will flourish where civic action has floundered remains to be seen.
Following the bloody Liliendaal accident in which three persons were killed in another overloaded, speeding minibus, the Minister of Home Affairs tritely pronounced that he would press for the introduction of new legislation to increase the penalty for traffic offenders. There has been no hurry to push any such new laws. He did, however, make a highly publicised tour of some parts of the city to look at the lawless minibus parks which, although untidy and unregulated, seem to have little direct bearing on road fatalities.
Like the Minister, the Police Traffic Branch also seems to be missing the point about road safety. Acknowledging that speeding was the main cause of serious accidents, the Traffic Chief admitted that there was a need for more radars because those the Traffic Branch had were inadequate. He solemnly boasted of a tally of over 500 cases of traffic violation on Camp Street between Lamaha and Church Streets and of having prosecuted over 130 persons for failing to acknowledge stop signs in just one month. Surely he must know by now where to find the main killing zones!
When it comes to the issue of road safety, Mr Clement Rohee said, the Government is "beyond the stage of platitudes". Is it really?