There were almost 7 000 road accidents in Barbados last year and president of the General Insurance Association of Barbados Randy Graham has added his voice to those sounding the alarm.
In addition to the number being too high, he lamented the number of lives put at risk and the high costs associated with these accidents.
“We still have way too many motor accidents on the roads in Barbados. We’re still seeing between 6 000 and 7 000 motor accidents a year, which is just way too many accidents to be having. We can’t be having 500 or 600 accidents a month in this country, it’s putting people’s lives at risk. It costs a lot of money,” he said.
“I think back in 2022, 2023, it was almost like $80 [to] $85 million paid out by insurance companies in motor vehicle accidents to repair damage which was to rebuild and repair cars and deal with injuries.”
Graham said many of these accidents could be avoided as people were distracted on the road, used their mobile phones or did not follow road rules.
He pleaded with drivers to remain focused on the road in order to reduce the high accident rate and bring down the loss of life to zero.
In 2024, Barbados recorded 22 road deaths.
Graham also reported a positive response from motorists where there were no police officers at the scene of minor accidents.
“What we have found since the policy was launched was that drivers have been responsible at accident scenes. They’re not escalating or causing fights or anything like that. They’re doing their best to exchange information and they stay calm, and that’s what we asked them to do with the policy – work with the insurance companies.”
He said the issue was for individuals to make the effort to move their vehicles out of the way to avoid a back-up of traffic when the accident occurred.
“There is still a thing about when you get an accident, you don’t move your car until the police comes. What we have to keep encouraging people to do is to take pictures – if you have the dash cam, do the dash cam footage – exchange the information and then move the vehicle to the side so that traffic can continue to flow,” Graham advised.
When the new measure was first announced last August, Commissioner of Police Richard Boyce said 71 per cent of accidents were minor and it was time to bring the Barbados Police Service into the 21st century, rather than holding on to practices from 40 years ago. Attorney General Dale Marshall said it would allow lawmen to concentrate on more serious matters. (AJ)
