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This post was originally published November 15 2013 with the title: Driving in Trinidad and Tobago is barbaric and inhuman

Updated February 16 2023

If given a choice to reside in Trinidad or continue living in the United States, I would choose the latter. I am accustomed to a society where rules are enforced, driver education and awareness are strictly monitored, and the safety and security of all road travelers are a priority. While vehicular tragedies and incidents occur in the US, they are not as arbitrary and rampant as they seem to be on the roads of Trinidad and Tobago.

According to facts about Trinidad and Tobago, traveling between local towns by car is within an average of a 5-mile radius. One could travel from North to South, barring traffic, at 45 miles per hour in less than two hours. However, my personal experience of a seven-mile drive from Diego Martin North to Aranguez, took over three hours due to stop-and-go traffic, reckless driving, and four-lane maneuvers on two-lane roads.

The headlines in daily newspapers are often plagued with road fatalities. “Road Carnage” was the headline for six road deaths in less than six hours over the first weekend of November 2013. The carnage began with the death of 21-year-old Andrew Edwards in Guapo, followed by a double road fatality, and two other fatal accidents in Central Trinidad and along the Churchill Roosevelt Highway.

Citizens of Trinidad and Tobago Arrive Alive!!! The death tolls are climbing and it requires urgency and immediacy to take the actions to Care and Respect our lives and those of all citizens of our cherished land. The government leaders, policy makers, shareholders of Trinidad and Tobago must be accountable to society.

Revenue streams for our big dollar intake, Tourism, will be further diminished and corroded if our nation does not actively and vigorously impose strict consequences and enforce rigid law policies. A Driver’s license is not a permit to kill. It is a responsibility to uphold civic duty and respect for everyone we share our roadways, our highways, our byways and our pathways with.

The high number of road fatalities and incidents of reckless driving are a cause for concern. It is time for the authorities to take action to enforce road safety regulations, provide driver education, and bring justice to victims of traffic accidents. Until then, driving in Trinidad and Tobago will remain a challenging and unsafe experience.