Police cracking down on omnibuses

Traffic cops will be out in their numbers this week, checking omnibuses to ensure that they are insured.

Head of the Traffic Department Superintendent Kenneth John made the announcment while addressing a meeting of the National Omnibuses {{more}}Association (NOBA) on Sunday.

“The traffic officers are outside doing what we call traffic checks. And we discovered that a number of the omnibuses are uninsured, a lot!” John said, stating that he could not give the exact number.

He urged omnibus operators to have their insurance certificates with them at all times.

“As of tomorrow (May 26), you are going to walk with the insurance certificate in your van. Once you comply with the officer, it is only going to be about 10 to 15 seconds the officer is going to stop you for,” John explained, stating that every omnibus will be checked.

John highlighted an accident recently involving three omnibuses, in which approximately 15 persons were injured and only one of the omnibuses was insured.

“There are a number of omnibuses that are not insured and we, as members of the Traffic Branch, we cannot just sit by and allow that to go like that. We are planning to do something about it. So, sometime in this week, I am going to call on the president [Anthony Bacchus of NOBA] to meet with him at the Traffic Branch, because we are going to carry out a check to ensure that all omnibuses are insured.

John also stated that it takes the co-operation of the omnibus operators in order to carry out the checks in an orderly manner.

“I must say that I am very happy to hear the president calling all drivers to cooperate with the police, which is very good. I will love to see that day when the police and the minibus drivers cooperating and I know that will make our jobs easier.

“We, the police, we are placed out there for a particular purpose and our purpose out there is safety. And if we do not do our part, the road will not be safe…,” John added.(KW)