Prevention Is Better Than Cure:
Drivers Lack Common Sense and Pay No Attention to Signals or Sirens

I recall that, in years gone, I have noticed that when a funeral procession is headed to the deceased’s final resting place, persons driving would pull over to the side of the road and let most, if not all of the vehicles in procession pass, but lately no one seems to care what is going on and just drive like nobody’s business.

It was on Tuesday of this week that I noticed the above custom has dramatically changed. It hurts my heart to see drivers not only passing the funeral procession, but doing so with loud music and I believe above the speed limit.

The funeral procession I am referring to had just left Two Sons Funeral Home, and was headed to the North Hill junction on its way to St. Mary’s Anglican Churchyard Cemetery, when two vehicles pulled to the side of the road, stopped completely and a third driver, who could not care less about what was happening, drove pass both vehicles and continued on. The driver of the hearse then pulled somewhat to the right hand side of the road as a means of stopping the oncoming vehicle but, to my surprise, the offending driver drove closer to the bush and made his way pass the procession. This was the most unmannerly thing I think the driver had done.

Driving along the Water Swamp Road, which is a bit busier, I saw the same thing happen. I wondered all along what was taking place in this little country. In spite of drivers pulling to the side the road, and letting the first set of vehicles pass, there are those drivers who do not care, pass the vehicles which have stopped and drive with their loud vulgar music. One vehicle was actually headed towards the hearse and I thought for a moment it would have caused an accident.
The entire procession from the Chapel to the burial site was marked by ill-manners - reckless driving by the ongoing vehicles.. People don’t care about these things anymore. My little country is fast becoming one with lack of interest in and manners for, each other. No one seems to care about stopping briefly in respect of the deceased.

Then there is THE bigger problem: emergency vehicles using sirens. From a distance one can hear these sirens coming or going. The closer these vehicles get to you the louder the sirens become, driving fast or driving slow; yet few motorists seem to care what’s happening around them and refuse to pull to the side of the road to give clearance for the emergency vehicles to pass.

What will it take to get Anguilla back to the time when everyone had love and care for people and for their surroundings? What will it take for drivers to be more cautious and better road users? I have even seen a bus driver stop across the centre of the road to let school children off the bus and other drivers squeeze pass or try to pass while children or stepping onto the road. What if they hit these children getting off the bus?

Thirty-five square mile little Anguilla seem to have gotten so busy with little time to travel that road users must hurry to get from here to there. If we leave home early we would have more time to wait on little things and we’d have less time to cause an accident. In the wink of an eye things do happen but, if we drive for ourselves and others the roads will be safer and accidents will not be as many or as bad. Leaving home late and having to drive on wet roads will cause more accidents and more fatal accidents at that.

Please drive with caution and care. Be more considerate when a funeral procession is passing and PLEASE TAKE HEED when emergency vehicles are on the run. Pull to the side of the road and stop. Let them pass and continue your journey. After all, the life you save might be your own.

M. L. Webster

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