Dawn Ritch, Contributor
I'VE BEEN wanting to write a column about pedestrian crossings for some time now, but it can no longer be postponed.
There is something utterly wrong with our value system and local culture. It permits us to describe the tragic loss of three lives as an 'incident'. This was the word used by a consultant to the newly-formed National Association of Taxi Operators (NATO) in that association's condemnation of the recent tragic accident in St. Thomas.
Let me say straight away how glad I was that the taxi-operators have formed an association. It was a breath of fresh air to hear the newly-installed president asking members not to dress in shorts and merinos while on the job. Because taxi-driving was a job, he said, and this attire would make most women have second thoughts about entering a taxi (driven by such a lout my words).
The consultant to NATO ought not to be criticised too heavily therefore, for his choice of words. Night after night Michael Sharpe on TVJ routinely describes the loss of life as an 'incident'. But an incident is a fire in which no one has died. Once there is loss of life it becomes a tragedy, and it is only the loss of life which is ever a tragedy.
I realise that it might irritate television presenters and editors to talk about tragedy night after night, and perhaps even some of their viewers. But irritation aside, the loss of a human life should never be denigrated into becoming merely an incident. It removes our capacity to recognise degrees of meaning, and hardens our souls to carnage.
The NATO consultant who, in another world of meaning, is a consultant on armed conflict, went on to state "We believe taxi operators need to be a bit more careful on the roads, looking out for pedestrians, rather than racing..."
A BIT MORE CAREFUL
What does "a bit more careful" mean? Is it running over only one of the school children, instead of killing all three of them? Or is it leaving them all unharmed, except for a broken leg? The need for drivers to be a bit more careful is a totally inadequate prescription. Drivers need to be a whole lot more careful about pedestrians and other drivers.
How is it that this Government can build an entire North Coast Highway and an Emancipation Park, but can't paint pedestrian crossings and have them manned by responsible adults to cross the little children? What's so hard about that? Or is the Government so totally against providing gainful employment even in the interest of the safety of little children?
The poor little things dart across the road without warning, or cower at the side until they're dragged terrified into on-coming traffic by irresponsible adults. Pedestrians don't use the crossings, not only because they've been obscured by time, but because they realise that drivers routinely ignore them.
An entire generation of Jamaicans have never learnt the Road Code. No turn signals are used, and drivers switch lanes without warning even at traffic lights. God alone knows what their hand signals mean, because I don't. Hands just go round and round in circles. U-turns seem to be an obligation. Policemen put on their sirens just to drive pedestrians out of the way. Indeed drivers of police vehicles are among some of the worst traffic offenders on the road.
This is a country where the sound of a horn doesn't mean "Stop", danger approaching. It means "Hello", "Come here!" or "Thank You!" Occasionally it's also the accompaniment of a long string of expletives. Horns are therefore constantly blowing while masses of people take their time to amble across busy roads.
I refuse to believe that this state of affairs is caused by police officers being too busy to mind traffic because they are chasing murderers and preventing murder. Murders climb and so do the amount of people on the run. Maybe the police are having symposiums, and will shortly recommend a study on our traffic mayhem by overseas experts.
This is the one time I would agree with a study being conducted. Because I can think of no good reason why nothing is done to secure the safety of pedestrians of all ages, and ensure that a dramatic reduction takes place in the number of road accidents.
I've been wondering whether or not a socialist Government views the current state of affairs as a valid form of social expression. That perhaps enforcing the Road Code is regarded as a contemptible oppression of the electorate, a kind of modern version of "Man Free". Well, he's free only to die and he still leaves a bill to his family who have to bury him.
The problem in Jamaica is not only breathtaking Government incompetence and dereliction of duty, but a fateful cultural characteristic of Jamaican themselves. This is a society which at all levels economic and social, worships at the shrine of 'Badness'. We find it funny. Boy children and dogs are universally encouraged to be bad, as a confirmation of both spirit, and the ability to protect home and hearth. The slogan for all Jamaicans should be 'The Badder the Better'.
BLIND MAN OR WOMAN
It is significant that we never hear of a blind man or woman who crosses the road being mowed down by illegal taxis in a motor car race. Probably because the blind listen more acutely to the sounds around them, than do those who can see. Or perhaps because only the holder of a white cane is ever shown the courtesy of being escorted across a busy road. And only a white cane can make on-coming traffic draw to a halt. We'll stop for the blind, but never children and we all know what happens to cats and dogs.
I take taxis occasionally because they are even faster than time which waits for no man. Metered, unmetered, sometimes without a lick of paint, they stall in traffic, and have to be coaxed back to life by the taxi-drivers. Most drive fast, some slow, and all stop for no man, woman or child.
Regardless of the condition of their vehicles the taxi-men tell me they have no intention of parking them. Their redundancy money bought them and if they don't earn an income with these vehicles they won't be able to keep them.
It would be better to provide jobs for the large number of taxi-drivers who would prefer to have a different one. Or so they tell me, and I see no reason to disbelieve them. It's a hell of a way to live, and I'm glad they've not only got representation for the first time, but sensible representation at that.
HIGHEST STRENGTH
Police Commissioner Francis Forbes said last week that the Jamaica Constabulary Force will be at its highest strength next February. I hope they received training in the Road Code if they've been given motor cars. Because the last thing we want to do is add to the problem we already have. Hopefully some of them will make themselves useful on foot, monitoring busy intersections, town squares and have posts on the highways throughout the country.
But are there too many cars on the road? Was any traffic planning done prior to the Government opening the floodgate of motor vehicle imports, and enjoying a bonanza collecting import duties and GCT?
And while the Government of Jamaica dithers as usual, engaged in the endless exercise of figuring out what to do, I hope they paint the pedestrian crossings islandwide and plant some trees. This will greatly assist the safety and comfort of all who walk on the road.
I would also like to suggest that the shade of the trees on all sidewalks be reserved exclusively for the use of pedestrians, and not taxi-drivers and their vehicles. This must be policed accordingly. Benches should be provided by the state. Along with pedestrian crossings. The badder, the better.
