Minister of Transport and Civil Aviation, Eli Zakour, has announced a new road safety campaign and a road safety assessment programme, both of which will be rolled out soon.
Addressing constituents in Caroni East during a pre-Budget consultation, he indicated that the Government intends to implement new road safety initiatives in the coming months.
“We are also launching very soon a National Road Safety Campaign. The country hasn’t had a road safety campaign in many, many years. We will also be launching it very soon, so we are very excited about that. That should launch by September, next month.”
The Transport Minister noted that while there are still instances of road accidents, there has been a reduction in road fatalities.
“What have we seen since we increased the traffic fines? The road fatalities right now are 25% lower than the same period last year. Serious road accidents are also down, close to 20%. Now a lot of persons are saying, ‘No, we’re seeing accidents all the time on social media, so it must be more accidents’. No, it’s just more people are sharing on social media, and they’re sharing the same accidents.”
In addition to the road safety campaign, the Minister noted that there are plans to map the locations of all road features so they can be seen at a glance.
“We will be launching a Road Safety Assessment Programme where we will be mapping out 2,000 kilometres of road in Trinidad and Tobago to identify all the risk areas within the country so we could have a proactive approach. We’re compiling everything digitally so we could see everything in one mainframe. Where everything is throughout the country.”
Minister Zakour noted that more drivers have been complying with the traffic laws since increased fines were introduced earlier this year.
“Since we increased the fines, inspecting your vehicle went up 122%. Persons were driving with expired permits, that increased by 355% of persons complying with the law. There were over 12,000 people driving with expired driving permits.”