Bdos: It's not the driver that kills, it's the car

Are certain cars on Barbados’ roads more dangerous than others? With the recent spate of road deaths on local roads the Ministry of Public Works and Transportation is acquiring statistics to answer that question.

A reliable source in the ministry has told the Barbados Advocate that the Ministry of Public Works and the Royal Barbados Police Force are working to gather information that may indicate whether or not some vehicles are more likely than others to be involved in fatal car accidents.

The senior officer in the Ministry, who declined to give her name has assured the Barbados Advocate that the Ministry collected such statistics in the past but eventually this practice declined and was stopped.

Recently the ministry decided to restart collecting information, such as the makes of cars involved in vehicular accidents on Barbados’ roads, as it may prove useful in the future. Superintendent with the Royal Barbados Police Force, Tyrone Griffith, is in charge of collecting all of this information, which police officers will gather at the scene of car accidents.

However this information will not help the Barbadian populace altogether. While the makes of cars involved in vehicular accidents will be known, many vehicles bought by Barbadian consumers are reconditioned cars that are not brought through car dealerships. Seeing that such cars have previously been driven and may have possibly been involved in car accidents then many of our society members may have faulty cars and not know it.