Former Minister of Education, Chad Blackman has urged stricter enforcement of road traffic laws and greater accountability for those transporting schoolchildren following a Tuesday morning accident in St Thomas involving students.
Emergency crews from the Barbados Fire Service responded around 8:30 a.m. to a two-vehicle collision involving multiple occupants, including schoolchildren travelling to school. Officials later confirmed that the injuries sustained were not life-threatening, and several people were assessed and treated at the scene as investigations continue.
Addressing the incident, Blackman stressed that public service vehicles and all entities responsible for transporting students are bound by legal obligations designed to protect children and other road users.
“Public service vehicles, and all entities transporting our students have a duty to, not just a moral obligation, but a duty by law to conduct themselves in a manner that is fit for purpose, that does not compromise the safety of our children or anybody who uses our roadways,” he said.
Fire officials confirmed that one of the vehicles involved in the collision was being driven by a 16-year-old, with a 13-year-old passenger. Police said two students travelling in a public service vehicle and two students travelling in the other vehicle sustained injuries.
Blackman pointed to enforcement as the critical factor in preventing similar incidents, noting that existing laws already address unsafe conduct on the nation’s roads.
“What has to happen is enforcement. The law books are clear with respect to how we treat deviance on the road and bad driving etcetera. It’s a matter of enforcement,” Blackman said.
He added that the Ministry of Education would continue to collaborate with the Ministry of Transport and Works and the Barbados Police Service to ensure that regulations governing student transportation are properly upheld.
“And sometimes what you have to do is send a very clear message by making an example of persons who believe that they can flout the law,” Blackman said, adding that “rule of law and law and order must be paramount in all of this.”
Following reports of the accident, the Ministry of Educational Transformation dispatched school officers from the secondary section to support the affected students. The ministry said it remains in contact with the Barbados Police Service and will continue to monitor the condition of the injured students, offering additional assistance where required.
Police investigations into the circumstances surrounding the crash are ongoing.
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