New Road Traffic Legislation In T&T

[LadyDeath]

What do you think guys ? Read below


If you bounce down a person or an animal, you will have to stop and take them to a hospital or doctor, even if they are unconscious, PNM Senator Faris Al-Rawi said yesterday as he was unwilling to accept the provisions of new motor vehicle and road traffic legislation.

Speaking during debate of a bill to introduce a new suite of road offences and to implement a Motor Vehicle Authority to replace Licensing Office, Al-Rawi said the legislation was far too voluminous to be considered on the Senate floor. The PNM Senator also said some of the provisions in the bill were skewed and questioned whether the Law Association had been consulted.

He cited clause 215 which states, ?Where, owing to the presence of a vehicle on a road or highway, an accident occurs whereby injury or damage is caused to any person, animal or property, the driver of such vehicle shall immediately stop, (a) if any person has been injured in the accident, the driver shall render such person aid, and if the person wishes to be taken to hospital or to a doctor, or is unconscious, convey or cause to be conveyed the injured person without delay to the nearest hospital or to a doctor.?

Al-Rawi said of this, ?You are imposing an automatic responsibility that you must get out of your car and you are liable to an offence if you don?t take this person to a hospital. You are making somebody carry an unconscious person to a hospital.? He noted a person would be convicted of a summary offence and liable to a $5,000 fine. ?We do need to revise our laws considerably,? he said. ?But every detail of this bill needs to be looked at more carefully. This bill does not pass muster. It is not ready to be passed.? He said the legislation would ban television in maxi taxis and questioned why this was necessary. Also, some officers from the public service would be exempt from certain provisions.

 

[Shadowhunter]

I think this could be very good. Not everyone (human or animal) that is hit by a vehicle immediately dies. Many lives could be saved if taken to a hospital (and actually seen!) instead of left on the road/side. It's every motorist's responsibility to use safe driving practices so as not to cause others or themselves harm. If they cause someone harm I don't see why they can't assist that person. I hope this discourages hit and runs, though once the driver admits to hitting the person or animal they will not like the fine but IMO that's the cost of their actions and assisting someone they hurt is the least they can do.

 

[nirtime]

I agree with it but to an extent. If the person is so badly injured that you cannot move them then an ambulance should be called. Remember we are not all nurses and we can actually worsen a situation by attempting to move someone who was hit by a car.

also safe driving practices are one part. I've seen people drive very safely but due to modern cars having tree trunks for A pillars and some stupid pedestrians it is easy to bounce somebody. Many a time were pedestrians crossing at my A pillar while going through a slow roll on a minor road and I almost ran them over since they crossed directly at my A pillar and I could not see them. Pedestrians do not look when they are crossing the road well. I've seen PEDs who were too busy reading and replying to messages via their phone while crossing a road not looking to see whether the cars are slowing down or not.

As a matter of fact someone I know drives a KIA Sportage the current model and they are not very tall. the entire mirror and A pillar blocks a large portion of their view and while in traffic on a major road, a pedestrian was crossing the road on her cell phone and was almost hit by the Sportage because the driver did not see them and proceeded to roll with traffic and due to the woman crossing being on her phone she did not see the car rolling directly in front of her as she had not yet reched in front the car. I had to tell the driver to stop because I was in the passenger seat and was able to see the ped

Also the last part of the OP said something about liability and fined up to $5,000 once you step out of the car, what does it mean?

 

[Shadowhunter]

In that case I understand as some injuries can lead to permanent paralysis etc when the person is moved incorrectly. For major injuries I would say calling for help should suffice although I've been in numerous situations where multiple people called for help during emergencies and no help ever came so emergency services would need to be on board for this as well.

 

[grimreaper009]

That stuff where if the person is in a vehicle accident to carry them to a hospital is mistakes as not everyone is going to be a doctor to tell what sort of injuries he has obtained etc there is a reason why the ambulance personnel were trained...idea sounds good but practicality is extremely low..what happens if the person was unconscious and you move them and by you doing that cause them to die what will be your position????

 

[Shadowhunter]

In those cases they can specify not to move unconscious people and for people with severe injuries. They can call and wait for the authorities to arrive to take the report and for emergency personnel to take the person. For minor injuries eg whiplash, cuts & grazes etc the driver can offer to take the person they injured for a look over at the nearest health facility. Sometimes officers recommend for people in those situations to get checked out as a precaution and most people don't. Sometimes it's not necessary when it doesn't seem like a major injury, but you never know. Also, what if both cars are totaled or both drivers are unconscious?