The Tribune

By SANCHESKA BROWN

Tribune Staff Reporter

sbrown@tribunemedia.net

TRANSPORT and Aviation Minister Glenys Hanna Martin said she is “concerned” about the roles “speeding and alcohol” may have played in the deaths of “several young persons” in the last 20 days.

According to The Tribune’s records, ten people have died in traffic accidents since December 18.

Mrs Hanna Martin told The Tribune that the country is losing too many “young people with bright futures” to accidents on the road that could have been prevented.

“We have three issues: road safety, road engineering and enforcement. We have recently brought someone in to assist us with dealing with the various issues and getting the relevant information out to the public,” Mrs Hanna Martin said.

“From the education point of view, we want to heighten the information and start in the schools, teaching our kids about the dangers of drinking and driving and speeding. We have new (public service announcements) we are running and we are talking to our young people about ways to celebrate without drinking alcohol and it is a combined effort with varying agencies. We are developing a manual aimed at high school students and we also want the community to get involved as well because it is everyone’s problem.”

Two young men, Marcian Bullard and Kirkwood Rolle, died after the car they were in crashed into a utility pole on JFK Drive on December 27.

On Christmas Day, a former Bahamas Electricity Corporation employee, working on lighting for the Boxing Day Junkanoo Parade was hit by a vehicle and died in hospital.

On Christmas Eve, two people – a 43-year-old man and a 27-year-old woman – died in hospital after they were involved in a traffic accident in Abaco.

Three other persons were taken to the local clinic for injuries and later airlifted to the capital for treatment.

Days earlier, two best friends, including an off-duty police officer, died after the car they were in crashed into a utility pole. Police Constable Wesley Nicholas Gaitor, 23, and Travis Delano Sweeting, 22, who was the driver of the car, died on impact. A female back seat passenger was taken to hospital in critical condition.

One day after that crash, a man died in Lower Bogue, Eleuthera, after his car was involved in a collision with a flat bed truck.

Investigations continue into all of these incidents.