Driving under the influence of alcohol

THE EDITOR: On Friday February 14, 2003 at 4.15 pm, while sitting in my car awaiting the green light at the traffic light intersection adjacent to Nestle’s compound, I observed a green and white Ministry of Health van racing up to my car which subsequently came to a screeching stop mere centimetres from my rear bumper.

Looking into my rearview mirror, I noticed that both the passenger and the driver holding in their hands, a bottle of beer each. While both Ministry of Health employees took long and clearly enjoyable swigs of beer, I wondered about the justification adopted by the driver, to consume alcohol while driving a company vehicle and came up with the following:

The driver was off duty, since everyone knows that the typical public servant refuses to work beyond 4 pm. The driver held a permanent job and believed that he could not be dismissed for drunk driving. The driver believed that no one could read the six inch lettering on the sides of the van which clearly and correctly spelt “Ministry of Health”. The driver believed, on a long hot day, alcoholic beer is the best thirst quencher, rather than plain water. The driver, as he was wearing a torn jersey with both sleeves fashionably ripped off together with hat and dark shades, believed that the only thing needed to complete the “cool” look was a beer in hand. The driver believed himself to be a “Trini macho man” with a small brain and an insatiable appetite for beer. The driver wanted to get an early start on getting drunk on Valentine’s Day so that by the time night came, he would be primed and ready for romance. The driver believed that by buying local beers, he was contributing to the survival of the beer making company and as a result, create employment for the local people; therefore he must do his endeavour best to drink beers both on and off the job. The driver believed it was okay to run the risk of knocking someone down while driving drunk, since he was driving a marked Ministry of Health vehicle which could easily double as an ambulance with emergency access to the very best medical treatment at any Ministry of Health facility.

In the middle of my musing, the traffic light turned green and I proceeded toward Mount Hope Medical Complex. The driver continued to drive dangerously close to my rear bumper, until growing tired of driving behind someone clearly observing the speed limit, he sped off towards the Mount Hope Maternity Hospital with exhaust belching a cloud of black smoke, very much like the suppurate belching of a beer guzzler. To the best of my knowledge, driving under the influence of alcohol is an offence under the law. Additionally, an employee found driving under the influence of alcohol could be dismissed. Unfortunately, these types of civilised rules are of little or no concern to not only this driver, but many other red blooded Trini men, whose mission in life is to prove that Neanderthal man still lives. I have taken the liberty of sending a letter to the Minister of Health with the faintest of hope that someone would follow this matter up. Furthermore, as Ministry of Health vehicles are parked on the compound of the Mount Hope Medical Sciences Complex, I have also sent letters to the CEO and Chairman of the North West Regional Health Authority. I’m sure that the CEO and the Chairman would recall the recent accident involving a Ministry of Health vehicle, at one of the roundabouts on the compound of the Medical Complex.

FRANKLIN ALI
La Romaine