BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – SEVERAL accidents occurred over the past week and the Traffic Department is taking has taken the opportunity to remind all pedestrians and motorists to be mindful of each other while using the Federation’s roadways.
Last Thursday afternoon (Sept. 8) at about 3:50 p.m., a motor pickup owned by the Sandy Point Agriculture Cooperative was travelling westward along Johnson Long Path and the driver reportedly loss control of the vehicle when it got in vicinity of Ross Nursing School.
The pickup truck – PA8887 - reportedly collided with the guard rail on the seaside of the road, flipped and landed on its side. The driver was Kurt Richards of Sandy Point and the three passengers who were at the back of the vehicle were transported to the Joseph N. France General Hospital, where they were treated for non-life threatening injuries and discharged.
Little more than 12 hours later, another accident took place several hundred meters from the area where that one transpired.
It was a head-on collision between motorcar RA29 driven by Jermaine Browne of Frigate Bay and motorcar P5645 driven by Jamie Dias of West Farm.
The Traffic Department reported that Browne was travelling eastward along the island main road with Dias travelling in the opposite direction when the former reportedly lost control of the vehicle, swerved into the path of the other and a head-on collision occurred.
Both drivers were transported to the JNF via the Emergency Medical Services, treated and discharged.
That incident occurred at approximately 4:30 a.m., and less than two hours later another accident occurred in the Keys area, which resulted in a vehicle sliding into a ghaut.
SKNVibes understands that Cassandra Benjamin of Keys Extension, who was driving motorcar PA9806, was heading from Basseterre when she reportedly began experiencing a severe headache and dizziness after she had passed the Sky Academy. She reportedly lost control of the vehicle and struck a lamppost before the vehicle came to a halt in a nearby ghaut.
Benjamin was taken to the hospital by the EMS.
The Traffic Department has found it necessary to reiterate what it asked and warned against for many years.
It reminded that all motorists are to drive within the prescribed speed limit - 20 miles per hour in built-up areas and 40 miles per hour in non-built-up areas.
It is possible that road users only consider themselves and their wellbeing when they are using the Federation’s thoroughfares. However, the Traffic Department is of the view that if all road users – pedestrians, cyclists and motorists – also consider others in their use of the roadways, fewer mishaps would take place.
“We want motorists and pedestrians to use the road and to be cognizant at all times of others using the road. If persons were to use the road and remember other road users, it would minimize the amount of incidents that we are having. Drive for yourself and for everyone else.”
Another piece of advice given by the Department is, if at all possible, when dizziness or any form of incapacitating illness is being experiences, stop the vehicle immediately and seek assistance.
