New mindset, not roads, will make us First-World

THE EDITOR, Sir:

I MUST confess that I was a little put out by the three-day strike by taxi drivers last week. By that, I don’t mean that I was hampered in any way. I am just fed up with the way in which we do things, even in 2018.

The drivers/operators were ostensibly protesting against the new Road Traffic Bill that was to be debated in the Senate last Friday. How does a maximum fine of $5,000 become $75,000? If they really wanted to get the facts, they could have.

What also irked me was that the drivers remained on strike even as discussions progressed. What is the purpose of taxi associations if they cannot get their members to obey directives? Roads were blocked, people were ordered out of vehicles, people were threatened, and tyres slashed.

Does this seem like civilised behaviour? I reflected, again, that First World does not begin with infrastructure. It begins in the minds of the citizens.

Now, here is a bill that will hopefully encourage civility and good sense on our roads, and people want to shoot it down. I am happy that the disturbances were confined to certain parishes and the ignorance was not islandwide.

The members of the National Road Safety Council have a Herculean task on their hands. NORMAN W.M. THOMPSON Mandeville, Manchester