CRASH KILLS 7

While relatives still struggle to come to terms with the death of Travis Teague, Timothy Fraser, Avonelle Thomas, Che Peters, Kareem Romain, Roxanne Johnson and Ramesh Narine, family members and friends of Teague, admitted that the 33-year-old father of one had a habit of driving recklessly and at high speed. Teague’s father Terrence yesterday said that he had frequently warned his son, who was a PH driver about his reckless driving habits.

“You could carry the cow to the water, but you cannot make him drink,” said Terrence, a father of six, when asked about his son.

“The way young people are driving these days, I do not like to drive with them...that is why I have my own car,” the grieving man said at his Valencia home. Had Teague heeded the warnings of the persons around him, his life, along with six others, may have been spared.

It was reported that at about 11.30 pm on Monday, a silver-coloured Mitsubishi Lancer car driven by Teague was heading in an easterly direction, with Peters, Romain and Romain’s brother Kwame, as passengers. At the same time an Izuzu pick-up transporting Narine, Thomas, Fraser, Johnson and Ramphal Hanoo was heading in a southerly direction along the O’Meara Road. Both vehicles collided at the intersection. Three of the victim died at the scene while the remaining four died at hospital.

Hanoo and Kwame Romain remain warded in critical condition at hospital.

Investigators are working on reports that the car driven by Teague drove through the traffic light which was red and collided with the pick-up, which had the right of way and was crossing the intersection. Police said this was the deadliest accident for the year and it sparked renewed calls from organisations and interest groups across the country for safer driving practices. The police service in a release yesterday called for drivers to obey the speed limit and stop at red lights. Arrive Alive also issued a release calling for more speed guns and all intersections to be converted into roundabouts to lessen incidences of road fatalities.

While warnings about speeding are renewed, relatives of Kareem Romain told reporters yesterday that they hold no malice against Teague, or his family. Newsday was told that all the occupants in Teague’s vehicle were close friends who lived a short distance away from each other, in the Valencia area.