Transport Minister Glenys Hanna-Martin last night foreshadowed a new drivers’ education programme for high school seniors, which police hope might cut down on the number of traffic fatalities.
Speaking to hundreds of delegates attending the Progressive Liberal Party’s 47th National Convention, the Transport Minister said during this legislative session, the government also intends to bring to Parliament a Bill to Amend the seat belt legislation.
It will review the level of fines imposed on failure to use seatbelts.
Mrs. Hanna-Martin did not say whether the proposed legislation would increase or decrease the new fines that came into effect this summer.
Many felt the fines were too high.
The Road Traffic Amendment Act 2002 stipulates a fine of $100 for a driver not wearing a seatbelt and $300 for each passenger not using the safety device. Any child under five who is not constrained in the back seat with a seat belt is a $500 fine.
Minister Hanna-Marting voiced her “particular concern” over the alarming rate of traffic accidents and those that results in fatality.
“This year alone 42 productive human beings perished on our streets,” Mrs. Hanna-Martin said.
“This is not acceptable and we are looking at ways to arrest this carnage including the introduction of a driver education programme in all schools at the twelfth grade level.”
Three young Bahamians were killed recently in two separate accidents and others were critically injured.
Police are welcoming the proposed drivers’ education classes.
Officer in Charge of the Police Road Traffic Department, Assistant Superintendent of Police Willard Cunningham said, “If the traffic laws and driver’s laws are taught in primary or secondary school, I feel it would reduce fatal and serious accidents in the Commonwealth of Bahamas .
“It’s a very good initiative and we will reap great dividends in the future.”
On August 31, six teenagers were seriously injured when their SUV slammed into a wall just east of the Harbour Bay Shopping Centre on East Bay Street .
One teenager, 16-year-old Vanessa Fox died.
And on November 3, another two teenagers died when their car crashed into a trailer truck. Themelis Miaoulis, 19, and Mario Aranha, 18,
Over the past two years, traffic deaths have fallen from 76, in 2000, to 56 in 2001.
Police are attributing the drop in traffic fatalities over the past two years to a beefed up presence on the streets.
In an effort to deter so-called speed demons, the Royal Bahamas Police Force – in conjunction with the Ministry of Transport and Texaco Bahamas – has acquired a monitoring device called a smart tracker, which tracks speed as well as displays traffic messages.
By Tosheena Blair,The Bahama Journal
