MINISTER OF TRANSPORT Michael Lashley is putting some Crop Over revellers on notice: do not drink and drive, or else.
During a press conference yesterday to launch the ministry’s road safety public awareness campaign at its Pine, St Michael office, Lashley said legislation to govern breathalyser and drug testing and distracted driving while using mobile devices was closer to being passed than some might think.
“It is a work in progress . . . but we hope after the Budget [next week] we should be able to debate in Parliament and have it passed, maybe June or July. I have signed off on the ministry’s position and accepted the provisions . . . . We just have to get it on the Parliament timetable . . . . So those who want to go party and believe they can go and drink [and drive], then by the next Crop Over we should have the machinery in place to make the [Road Safety] Act enforceable,” he said.
This latest announcement met with the approval of president of the Barbados Road Safety Association, Sharmane Roland-Bowen, given the 17 road deaths so far, but she cautioned against further delays. (CA)
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