Maxi recklessness

THIS NEWSPAPER has been consistently critical of the culture of recklessness that maxi-taxi drivers have cultivated on the roads of our country. While it is true that these private mini-buses provide an important public service, offering a cheap and ready form of transport for our very mobile population, the fact is that they have been allowed to become a virtual law unto themselves, taking advantage of the poor enforcement of our traffic laws to break them with impunity. It is no accident that maxis are now among the maximum offenders, the major causes of mishaps, on our roads and highways. How bad this unchecked situation has become was illustrated in Wednesday’s accident on the Diego Martin Main Road where an out-of-control maxi ran off the road and struck down two-year-old Tyrel Roberts who, we understand, suffered severe head injuries.

Making matters worse is the fact that the youngster will not benefit from any insurance coverage. After the accident, the police discovered that the 32-year-old maxi driver did not have a driver’s permit and the vehicle involved was not insured; as a result the driver was detained at the West End Police Station. We have no idea of the extent of Tyrel Roberts injuries and we can only hope that the unlucky youngster will make a full recovery. The fact is, however, that if his medical treatment incurs any cost whatever, it will have to be borne by his 21-year-old mother Annmarie Jerry. Our reports are that Jerry and her son, of Waterfall Road, Diego Martin, were standing at the side of the road when the runaway maxi skidded off the road, slammed into little Tyrel, and ended up in the drain. Jerry told the Police that the incident happened so suddenly she did not have the time even to throw herself in the path of the maxi in an effort to save her son. Passengers in the maxi told Newsday they were also shaken up by what had happened. After the vehicle landed in the drain, they had to crawl through the windows to get out. Some of the passengers recalled seeing the driver nodding while behind the wheel but gave him no serious thought. When Newsday arrived on the scene, the driver, apparently in a daze, was walking up and down the busy main road looking in disbelief at the mishap, while angry passengers, other motorists and onlookers hurled abuses at him.

The distraught mother collapsed on the road while her son was being placed in a taxi which took them to the Port-of-Spain General Hospital.
The recklessness of maxi taxis stem largely from the fact that many or most of the drivers are not owners of the vehicles; they are really hustlers who have been hired by owners and are required to return a certain amount in fees each day before they can claim their earnings. Not having any responsibility for maintaining the vehicles they drive and under the daily pressure of exceeding the owners’ “quota,” these drivers have become mercenaries who care little or nothing about other users of the road. We wonder how long the driver involved in Wednesday’s Diego Martin accident has been plying this route illegally. We wonder whether if he had not nodded himself into the drain whether he would have been discovered at all. We wonder how many other maxi drivers are placing passengers in jeoardy by not having permits. And, finally, we wonder when the police will mount an ongoing campaign to properly control this runaway industry and make the country’s roads safer for the driving public.