Sunniebgi

By ticketing it means that the person gets a ticket and can pay it with in a certain number of days.. they can dispute it in front of a judge (I think) or pay the fine..

right now you get stopped for something.. you present your drivers license or have to take it to your nearest police station within 24 hours (which means you don't have to drive with it on your person) and in a few months or so, when they finally get around to it, you will get a summons to appear in court and plead your case.. if you are lucky you are never called..I know someone who failed to stop at a stop sign.. there were 5 police people waiting to catch people at one particularly bad spot.. the person rolled, looked.. know one coming for miles and went.. they did stop.. but not at what their designated stop zone was.. anyway.. there is also a time limit ( I think) that once you pass a certain number of months, you don't get called and you don't get charged..

Ikon

I don't think tickets work as a deterrent for people who are determined to speed tbh.

I'd be the first to own up to being a speed freak when I was younger (not so much on the roads here, but if I was in the UK on a motorway for sure), and when I lived in the UK full-time accumulated a few speeding tickets over the years. I saw getting caught as bad luck rather than any indicator that I was a bad driver.

Not saying that my attitude was right - of course it wasn't - but I really don't think ticketing dangerous drivers is proven to have any massively positive impact on road safety.

Mitzyboy

Attitudes have changed. It wasnt so long ago really when you think about it that it was acceptable to drink and drive!!! In a previous job I used to come across Policemen in the UK who would have a skinful and then jump in their car to drive home.

Ikon

Quite possibly, but if so I'm not sure that tickets brought about that change......

The only possible benefit I can see from tickets/fines is if the government uses the extra revenue to fund road improvements and safety campaigns. The money is not used that way in the UK, but perhaps Barbados will see the opportunity more altruistically.

Mitzyboy

No you are correct, having roadside tests and an instant ban from driving bought about the change in the UK. A fine would do nothing to stop people drinking and driving as they would doubtless see it as an acceptable risk, whereas having their licence taken away for 12 months wouldn't be

Ikon

That makes a lot of sense. Those threats certainly work for me when driving in London now LOL!

Foxy_fromCanada

You can still drink & drive in Barbados. That's part of the problem. Getting back to the origin of this post, that's why the cyclists were killed - by a drunk driver who stopped for mere seconds before speeding off again. Next day, she went to a windscreen glass repair place to get her windscreen fixed! Luckily, the person there asked a few questions, then called the police on her.

neal brown

I went into a rumshop in Speightstown to buy some mints only to see a police man and police woman in uniform with a police jeep park outside the shop drinking a flask of Mount Gay Rum with their hats off,the problem is who is trying to prevent it is the head ones that doing it. They say dont talk on cell phones when driving i guess all of us do, even the ones that is saying stop.

Foxy_fromCanada

That's pretty funny, Neal. You are right - it starts at the top.