Issues that are seemingly being ignored

Nov 22, 2013 Editorial

One can perhaps empathise with Traffic Chief (acting) Superintendent Kevin Adonis when he argues that the police are not to be blamed for the recent spate of road accidents. Be that as it may, that statement is poor comfort to those who have lost loved ones on what arguably can be described as the most dangerous roadways in the region. This position is further bolstered by the fact that we are in the month of observing road safety and rapidly approaching the Christmas season, and already the police have their hands full.
Whenever there is an accident whether fatal, or even minor, the public is only told that the incident was as a result of speeding, distraction, and/or drunk driving. There seems to be no real effort to investigate the possibility that other factors may have contributed. If we were to consider that close to 10,000 motor vehicles have entered the country annually for the past five years, it would be recognised that there needs to be an urgent revision of the road network infrastructure policy.
It should be noted that the description of ‘new’ as applied to incoming vehicles was not used, since the majority of persons can only afford secondhand or reconditioned vehicles, which in the purest sense, cannot be called new. It is therefore incumbent upon the authorities to devise appropriate strategies to address all potential contributory factors to road accidents, which have become a grave public health and development problem.
Among other factors which contribute to road accidents in addition to the three mentioned above are: poor road conditions; lack of road safety knowledge; failure of enforcement; and poor conditions of vehicles. However, there seems to be no attention paid to the last, and this is where we feel that more focus should go to complement other interventions.
This is not to say that the driver of a defective vehicle will be exempt from culpability; the contention is that there must be some way of determining whether the defect is as a result of vehicle age or is a manufacturer’s defect. The impression gained is that the police certifying officers are equipped to conduct accident investigations, but the question which must be asked is are they trained to determine whether any observable defect was one that ought to have been detected prior to driving the vehicle, or if the defect was simply an after-sale shortcoming of the vehicle (such as lack of anti-lock brakes) which the driver ought to have known about and allowed for; or whether, despite the defect, the defendant could have avoided the accident; and whether the accident would have occurred even without the defect.
The point being made here is that outside of a provable rigorous maintenance schedule, there can be recourse to blaming a manufacturer’s defect for a vehicular accident. Moreover, operating a defective vehicle, if the defect might reasonably have been discovered, is a negligent act which should render the driver liable.
Defects which have identified in vehicles recalled by manufacturers include: defective wiring harnesses in the passenger seat, which prevents activation of passenger air bags; inaccurate fuel level display which could result in the vehicle unexpectedly running out of gas; improperly heat-treated aluminum rims, which increase the risk of a crash due to cracking or splitting; tie rod assemblies, which may break, causing a loss of steering; and door locks that may jam, locking individuals inside without an exit.
Our current policy and practice of importing used tyres should be re-examined in the interest of saving lives, and which is not helped by a prohibitive import duty and a repressive taxation policy.
The foregoing are only intended to be a minute sample of issues that are seemingly being ignored and which may be the cause of serious and even fatal accidents. The authorities need to reconsider the quality of tyres imported into this country and to pay strict attention to the practices of the vehicle manufacturing industry, as well as the actions of regulatory bodies which have been set up to monitor compliance in matters of road safety.

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