‘Travelling homes’ on nation’s roads

Sociological investigations reveal alarming consequences of this reality. The gas subsidy, the bureaucratic process, a lack of political will, government centralisation, and bumper-tobumper traffic create violent and lawless behaviour based on psychological, social, temporal and environmental factors.

The evidence suggests it matters not where in the world you go, traffic can cause lawless behaviour. Within the last six months alone, we have recorded five vehicular accidents as a result of lawless and reckless driving, including shooting off at a red light or driving on the shoulder of the road.

It doesn’t take a genius to see that our mind and our environment play a large role in our mood while driving or just travelling in a car. Look at men and women behind the wheel and see how different they act. And who hasn’t been in a car, stuck in traffic, with people who can annoy you? And, of course, don’t try to leave Portof- Spain between 3 and 6 pm. If those factors aren’t enough to get to you, try driving a cheap car without air conditioning in the blazing sun or heavy showers.

We can also see power relations revealed on our roadways. Central planners, government officials and political actors high on the social rank are given special incentives which preclude them from the traffic struggles of the everyday citizen. So our Prime Minister, ministers, opposition MPs and the rich elites have opportunities to bypass traffic while the rest of us sit and suffer the endless traffic nightmare.

Why do they get special treatment, eg tax breaks on imported cars, the use of the Priority Bus Route, free gas, priority parking etc? Such visible differences reveal power and exhibit the social divisions of class in our society. Is our time less valuable than theirs? Yet our Government doesn’t seem to think traffic is a big issue.

Instead, it just wants to hand out tickets to someone going 81 kph to increase revenue. For what? What about the relationship between male and female commuters on the road? Living up to their stereotype, it seems men like to take “risks” while driving.

They use the shoulder of the highways and too much speed to get where they want to go in a hurry. Is it because their masculinity makes them “fearless” about being caught or are they just thoughtless? When women, fitting their own stereotype of being considerate of others, take their time and follow the law, they are yelled at, given “bad drives” and “attacked” with car horns. Why? This treatment might even scare some women from driving and leave them to travel by taxi, which puts them at risk of being raped and robbed.

It can be insinuated that the bumper-to-bumper traffic of the “travelling homes” causes lawless behaviour. To make it worst, the elites have their “out” ticket to bypass traffic, compared to regular commuters. Unless the elites lose these privileges, be that by gender or class, they will never become aware of the plight of the everyday person in their own “travelling home.”

Nirmala Goordeen graduate sociology student