Businessman JACK WARNER

ISSUE 156 Friday 13th MAY, 2016
EDITORIAL
By Publisher
JACK WARNER
The introduction of
speed guns into the
national security
infrastructure is a welcomed
addition.
The human carnage
which has taken place over
the past eight months is
sufficient to warrant action
and as much as I would
like to criticize the Minister
of Works and Transport
Fitzgerald Hinds for his
lack lustre performance so
far; this time he must be applauded.
Of course this does not
come without controversy.
The number of available
speed guns raises the question
of how effective this
would be across Trinidad
and Tobago.
With six speed guns this
seems as a lost cause but for
me the fact that at least we
have started this initiative
is a move in the right direction.
Another area of concern
is getting perpetrators to
pay for the tickets they have
been issued.
Currently, millions of
dollars in unpaid tickets are
owed to the State.
All one has to do is to sit
in any Magistrate’s Court
and the list of offenders
who have not paid their
tickets seem inexhaustible.
So the concern is what
assurance do we have that
these speed tickets will be
paid and this is germane
because if offenders know
that like other tickets there
will be no follow-up then
there will be no incentive to
drive within the prescribed
limits.
One approach is to modernise
our system linking
the issuance of tickets to
the renewal of licences so
if a driver has even one
overdue unpaid ticket s/he
will not have her/his licence
renewed until that ticket is
paid.
In addition, police officers
should be given handheld
devices containing all
information with regard to
SPEEDING
Page 7
TO DEATH
drivers and once a driver is
routinely stopped on the basis
of reasonable cause or as
a result of infringing the law
and s/he is found to be the
holder of an overdue unpaid
ticket, s/he should be detained
to settle this matter.
So simply having a handheld
device to monitor the
speed of motorists will not
guarantee a safety approach
to driving unless all the systems
are put in place to support
it.
But even as the police
take to the streets to engage
in this reduction of
speed initiative, citizens are
claiming that this can result
in unfair treatment since
these devices can only target
one vehicle at a time.
What seems to be a justifiable
concern is what will
cause an officer to determine
which vehicle to target
if two oncoming vehicles
are travelling in excess of
the required speed limit?
Citizens are recommending
the use of overhead
speed cameras to photograph
vehicles driving in
excess of the speed limit.
This will create a fairer
system as no one will escape.
But this will also require
a legislative agenda, which
would allow for tickets to
be posted to vehicle owners
who will now be held responsible
for anyone using
their vehicles and driving in
excess of the speed limit.
There is plenty more
which needs to done in order
to ensure full compliance
with the law but one
cannot default the Minister
or the Government for making
this first step to guarantee
our safety on the road.
But social media seem to
be critical concerning the
current speed limit which
most feel is far too slow in
A real and very tragic problem in TNT
Radar guns a move in the right direction
Minister of Works and
Transport FITZGERALD
HINDS
these modern times.
Some responders believe
that travelling over long
distances can become onerous
and have begun a petition
seeking Government’s
assistance to increase the
speed limit on highways
at least to one hundred and
twenty kilometres per hour
(120 KPH).
While the request does
not sound unreasonable,
before Government makes
such a move, it is best advised
to do some research
to determine what the current
practice is especially
in developed territories like
North America and Europe
especially since we like to
use these as standards for
comparison.
The Insurance Institute
for Highway Safety in the
USA has documented that
41 states have a speed limit
of 113KPH except for Nevada
and South Dakota with
speed limits of 129KPH.
It stated that the range
stretched from 113KPH to
129KPH.
Only the Texas Lone Star
State can boast of speeds
above the 129KPH, which
is a mere 136KPH.
However, on the Freeways,
it was noted that
speeds increased to as much
as 129KPH in Utah with
Texas, South Dakota, North
Dakota, New Mexico and
Arizona boasting speeds of
121KPH.
So across the United
States of America, there
is an existing precedence
where vehicles are allowed
to travel safely within a
speed limit of 113KPH to
129KPH.
In Canada, the speed limit
is a little more conservative.
On a multi-lane highway
driving is limited to
100KPH but for those who
are clamouring for 120KPH,
the Canadian view is that at
such a speed you are driving
too fast.
The Canadians view
therefore will suggest that
if they were to advise the
Government on matters of
speed they most likely will
recommend an increase of
20KPH to the current speed
limit for highways.
The German Autobahn is
probably one of the roads
across Europe, which will
facilitate one’s need for
speed at 130KPH.
So across jurisdictions
there are precedents, which
can be used to consider an
increase in the speed limit
but from experience, what
is also clear is that there is
Speed Guns in action
rigid law enforcement protocol
in these jurisdictions
and commuters use these
roads with a sense of care to
avoid vehicular carnage.
My own personal view
is that 80KPH is too slow
but before the Government
undertakes to increase the
speed limit a more robust
highway patrol fleet needs
to be established.
Police vehicles should
not just be parked along
the highways with flashing
lights for show.
They should be there for
the purposes of pursuit; ensuring
vehicles are following
the highway codes and
detection of any infringement.
I have seen on too many
occasions where the police
had reasonable cause to
stop and search vehicles but
they were too busy chatting
with their fellow partners in
the vehicle that they failed
to notice the infringement.
I have seen motorists
chatting and texting on mobile
phones while driving in
front of police officers and
there was no intervention
by the police oficers.
This is a greater threat
to road safety than speed
and when the threats occur
at an increased speed limit
anything can happen as
drivers on the German Autobahn
have noticed that at
130KPH cars can suddenly
appear out of no where.
At higher speeds a greater
level of vigilance is required.
So when a “texter” at
80KPH takes a risk, at
120KPH that risk will
become more fatal and a
greater threat not just to
the perpetrator but also to
other road users.
The speed guns are a
move in the right direction
for the Government, a
move, which should be supported.
The Government should
also seriously consider at
least a 20KPH increase in
the speed limit for highways.
No organization gets everything
perfect the first
time and no system is without
teething problems but if,
as a nation, we want to get
this country right we must
criticise the wrong and offer
advice to do things better
but in the meantime all of us
must comply with common
sense approaches to leave
our country a little better
than we have found it.