Taxi Body Denounces Disregard for Rules
The Fiji Taxi Association has denounced the driving standard and blatant disregard of traffic rules that led to the death of a 56-year-old man along the Wainikoro Road in Labasa on Saturday night.
The association vice-president Mahendra Prasad told the Fiji Sun that when drivers broke road rules they were putting someone’s life at risk. Road safety is everyone’s responsibility regardless if you are a pedestrian or a driver.
Mr Prasad said drivers must strictly follow the required speed limit.
“Unfortunately the attitude of drivers on the road is a growing concern,” he said.
“It has caused a big loss to the family and I sympathise with them, but pedestrians must remember to wear bright coloured clothes when they are on the road at night.
“I’d also like to stress to drivers that any little distraction such as mobile phones can cause accidents and if something appears in front of you, of course you will be caught off guard. Drivers must respect road rules and they must understand that the licence they are holding is governed by a law that states that they should remain within the ambit of the law. We are doing all our best because we cannot be in two places at once. “Obeying road rules and sticking to the speed limit will also make the LTA and Police job easier in reducing road fatality cases.”
From January 1st to October 5th, 2018, Police arrested a total of 44 taxi drivers for drunk driving. Six were arrested in the Northern Division, 14 in the South, 11 in the East and 13 in the West. Speeding infringements involving taxi drivers for the same period saw a total of 14,495 infringement notices for the same period.
The Southern Division recorded the highest with 6583, followed by the Western Division with 4363 then the Eastern Division with 2673 and the North recorded 876 bookings. Some of these were repeat offenders.
Divisional Police Commander (DPC) Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Eparama Waqa said the public services they offer must not to be taken lightly.
DPC Waqa said speeding and other related issues painted a negative image of the entire industry. “Some of them may not even be members of the union and association, nevertheless you are all grouped together as PSV drivers,” he said. “We admit that the working relationship between the Police and members of the Taxi industry hasn’t always been positive, but it’s great to note that we continue to work together to iron out issues.
Family mourns loss
Plans by a father of eight for a family reunion this Christmas, has been dashed after the fatal road accident on Saturday night.
The 56-year-old man of Dogotuki, who lives in Vulovi, was walking along the road when he decided to cross to where his wife and children were waiting. This was when he was hit by a vehicle. Police spokesperson Ana Naisoro said: “The victim while crossing the road near Vulovi along the Labasa/Wainikoro Road was allegedly bumped by a taxi driven by a driver in his late 20s.
“A post mortem examination will be conducted to find out the cause of death.”
The late Hositatino Dikevaki’s wife Mereseini Dilule told the Fiji
Sun that they were waiting for a taxi to take them to church at the Catholic Church in town.
“We made plans to do lovo with the family and take the children out for Christmas celebrations or picnic, but it all came to an end when the accident happened in front of our face,” Ms Dilule said.
“We were on the left side of the road, waiting for a cab to take us down to church which is two kilometres from here. The incident happened in a split of a second, the taxi hit my husband and he was flung across the road.