The Fiji Police Force is appealing to about 147,000 drivers in Fiji to drive responsibly for the safety of all road users.
Director of Traffic Senior Superintendent Mahesh Mishra said bad driver attitudes continued to dominate the causes of all road traffic accidents in the country.
Without a transformation in driver attitudes, road fatalities will continue to occur.
The appeal, although often made by the police force, is being reiterated in the wake of the death of another person on our roads yesterday outside Nadi town.
The road death toll now stands at 25 compared to 31 for the same period last year but the death of two persons within the space of two days is a concern.
The police force has invested a lot in terms of human resources, funds and time to bombard the public with road safety tips and try and induce better driver attitudes.
“But if drivers don’t take this lesson to heart, and continue to ignore simple road rules like keeping within the speed limit, keeping their concentration fixed on the roads then road accidents will continue to occur,” SSP Mishra said.
“Productive lives will continue to be lost, people in the prime of their lives who may have helped our economy to grow.
“Driver attitudes without a doubt are a major factor in determining how safe our roads are.”
Almost on a 24 hours basis, from January to December, the force continues to implement programs that are geared at making roads safe like:
· Random breath tests awareness
· Police visibility on the roads
· Continuous road safety programs
· Patrols in black spot areas
· Joint Operations with the Land Transport Authority
“We have all these programs in place but the challenge is that drivers take advantage when seeing that we are not present in some areas to drive at high speed or in an irresponsible manner,” he said.
“They think they are outsmarting the police but their attitudes will catch up with them and it often results in death, most times of innocent victims.
“So if you are a driver, mind your attitude, think of others and of all road users while driving.”
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