Death Stalks Our Roads

There is growing concern over the increasing number of accidents and fatalities in Anguilla due largely to reckless driving. The vehicles, which many of our motorists are paying high prices for, as a means of pleasure, transport or part of their livelihood in a developing island economy, are sadly, in some instances, becoming rockets of destruction on the vastly improved surface of several of our roads.

Speed limits are being ignored and the Traffic Department is finding it difficult to deal with the situation particularly as a great deal of the speeding is done at nights. Of course there are some misguided and irresponsible thrillers who brazenly drive in a careless and dangerous manner in full daylight and view of everyone, running both pedestrians and other motorists off the roads. Plunging into road-side houses, fences and gardens night and day is occurring too often.

It is bad and scary enough to be on the roads when heavy and loaded trucks are driven at high speeds through neighbourhoods and on roads where there are no sidewalks or other spaces for pedestrians to hastily get out of the way. Even if there were sidewalks, it would take nothing for speeding vehicles to mount them and endanger the lives of persons. Many trucks are heavily-loaded and uncovered and have wobbling wheels and smooth tyres. They spill soil, sand and other material on the roads endangering fellow motorists and the health of the community; and it is not certain that their braking and power steering systems are working well enough to take care of their heavy cargo and speed. There are occasions when there are stones caught between the twinned wheels ready to be catapulted into vehicles and occupants travelling behind.

When drivers of cars and other smaller vehicles join the speed monsters, the fear on the road simply multiplies. One of the common reasons for the occurrence of accidents is the reckless overtaking of several vehicles at once resulting in chilling collisions with traffic travelling in the opposite direction. Sometimes it is a miracle how the occupants of the extensively mangled vehicles escaped alive. There are other occasions when rushing motorists suddenly pop up from feeder roads and intersections leaving fellow drivers and pedestrians startled to say the least.

Anguilla has come a long way from the days when the vehicles could be counted on the fingers and the roads were nothing but rock-bound bush tracks. As time and fortune progressed we have been ushered into a new dimension in which, down to this day, there are traffic jams requiring more stop lights, traffic police, speed bumps and a variety of signs. The increased traffic and the high quality of our vehicles have led to the development of a network of good roads, many of which are of asphalt. It is understandable that with the sometimes bumper-to-bumper traffic there will be some accidents, but many of the dangerous ones can be avoided if drivers were more careful, courteous and respectful.

There is a need for a national campaign to bring back sanity among some motorists and to remove the threat of serious injury and death that are stalking our roads.