Traffic Department urges compliance with law
BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – A young man – whose three-year-old daughter lost her life in a tragic traffic accident months ago – would be facing prosecution for failing to properly restrain her while she was a passenger in the vehicle he was driving.
Boris Johnson - along with his daughter Janiah and wife Alexia – was involved in a two-vehicle crash which took place on the evening of February 18, 2012.
And while Boris and his wife had sustained some injuries, three-year-old Janiah was transported to the Joseph N. France General Hospital for treatment where she died approximately three hours later.
The driver of the second vehicle - Kimo Liburd of Keys Village – was subsequently charged with “causing death by dangerous driving”.
And according to Head of the Traffic Department Inspector Cromwell Henry, investigations have led the department to initiate prosecution against Johnson.
“Boris Johnson – following investigations – has been informed that he would be prosecuted for driving with a child who was not adequately or properly restrained in the vehicle.”
The Inspector explained that that incident “brings into focus graphically the very thing that the law is trying to prevent”.
In 2009, legislation was passed which required drivers and passengers in vehicles to be properly restrained and special mention was made of children under the age of five years.
As elucidated by Inspector Henry, “These children – who are under the age of five years – are required to be restrained in specially-designed seats commonly known as child seats. And stiff penalties were included in the legislation in respect to children not being properly restrained.”
He reminded that the seatbelt law - which mandates that the front seat passenger and the driver of vehicles wear their seatbelts while the vehicle is being operated – was also passed in 2009. However, persons are increasingly complying with that and neglecting that which seeks to protect children under the age of five years.
“Since we have been enforcing the provisions of this particular law, we have not been seeing the level of compliance with respect to children. Drivers continue to carry young children in the front seat of their vehicles unrestrained, in the back seat unrestrained and, even more alarmingly, in the lap of the driver of the vehicle. These are practices which the law frowns upon and we continue to appeal to drivers to protect their children by complying with the law.”
Striking a comparison between the seatbelt law and that which mandates the use of child car seats for children under the age of five years, Henry noted that the penalty for the former is up to $1 000 while the penalty for the latter is up to $5 000.
Speaking candidly with this publication, Inspector Henry said he fails to understand why “drivers would take the necessary precaution to protect themselves by wearing their seatbelts and leave the more vulnerable group unprotected”.
