And negligent truck driver goes free

THE EDITOR: The initial furore over the horrifying death of the mother and child under the wheels of a truck has died down. The police in their usual ineffective reaction are chasing after roadside vendors as if the vendors caused the accident. No word is heard about the action to be taken against the perpetrator of this atrocity, the truck driver. Whether there are vendors or not, cars will stop on the roadside and they should be able to do so without having to worry about truck drivers running amok. Would it have made a difference if the car had broken down? Would the truck not have run off the road and killed two people? The car stopping on the highway is not what caused the accident - it was the criminal negligence of the truck driver.

It is ridiculous to argue that the truck driver lost control of the truck because some other vehicle gave him a “bad drive.” If a “bad drive” caused him to lose control then he was driving in an uncontrollable manner. A driver must always be able to retain control of his vehicle even when he gets a “bad drive.” Bad driving is a feature of the Trinidadian experience and drivers have to be prepared to deal with it. If everybody who got a bad drive killed two people, everybody in Trinidad would be dead! We have to stop excusing this type of lawlessness. But, you see, truck drivers do not have to worry. They are invulnerable in their five tonne projectiles, high above the madding crowd — no risk to them in an accident. The truck (driver) crushed two people to death but escaped with minor injuries. The police opine that there is no evidence that he was speeding. This, without the benefit of even a preliminary investigation.

It is reminiscent of the even more horrifying accident some time ago at the Curepe intersection of the Churchill Roosevelt Highway when a truck (driver) killed six people in a taxi. The poor dead taxi driver was given full blame for the accident - the truck driver walked away scot-free. A driver of a multi-wheeled, extra heavy-duty trailer truck is approaching an uncontrolled intersection (the traffic lights were not working) at a speed that did not allow him to stop for a car entering the carriageway and he is not even charged for negligence. The public does not even know who it was because all the blame fell upon the other driver. It is time that the law enforcement authorities begin taking steps to bring this most recent breed of lawbreakers under control. The carnage they cause demands it.

KARAN MAHABIRSINGH
Carapichaima