Driving in Trinidad

I know this is a topic that may not affect any of you, but I thought it was time for me to vent a little about the fact that Trinidadians are incapable of driving.

I am not saying that they aren't any people living in Trinidad who know HOW to drive - but I for one do NOT consider "mashing" the gas and brakes driving. If this is all there was to driving why would we have such a thing as regulations? Why would people have to take an actual test in order to be certified to drive on the roads? However as we are all acutely aware, more and more drivers on the roads of Trinidad and Tobago, do not have their license and never took a regulations test. No wonder we have such HORRIBLE drivers.

I think it is very difficult to drive behind a vehicle who's occupant is unaware of the fact that while on the road his primary action should be that of driving. I have seen drivers on their cell phones - hand to ear; drivers eating their dinner while driving and the absolute best is seeing the driver turning around in the car to talk to someone in backseat while driving.

These drivers believe in swerving from one lane to the next coming around the Queen's Park Savannah. The Savannah - it is not exactly the easier piece of road to drive in Trinidad and Tobago - so my question to the fools out there that insist on being on your cells phones, eating and all sorts of other activities - WHY MAKE DRIVING THE SAVANNAH MORE DIFFICULT FOR THE REST OF US??????

Now about 15 years ago I remember learning about turning signals (hand and automatic) - within the last few years I'm not sure if this topic has been removed from the learners manual. I could understand the outside temperature of Trinidad has increased and more people drive with their windows up, however I do not think that heat is any reason NOT to utilize a turning signal or indicators as we down here in the island call it.

I have never been in the habit of looking out for an entire car coming at me from another lane with no warning. I am however in the habit of looking out for the yellow flashing light at the back of your vehicle signaling to me that you will like to get into my lane. FURTHER I am in habit of expecting a little road courtesy when I have my indicator on and will like to change lanes. Sorry to let all you people out there know, when the indicator of my car is on AND you are 10 feet away, my indicator it is NOT a signal for you to SPEED UP and close the gap.

Now onto the issue of speeding - If you are driving a foreign used Nissan B-13 your vehicle is NOT capable of holding the road while moving faster than 70 km/h (given that the car is only five years old - which most are NOT). First to begin, foreign used vehicles are just that FOREIGN USED, they are NOT new cars and therefore cannot perform in the same way for example a Mercedes Benz will drive on the road. Mercedes Benz, BMWs , Honda, Toyota and other such "performance" vehicles were designed for driving on the Autobahn - you know that speedway in Germany where the minimum speed limit is about 65 kilometer per hour! In Trinidad and Tobago there is no such thing as an Autobahn. Keep in mind that our maximum speed limits on most roads is 65 km/h. So let's try driving for our roads and not the German Autobahn - which by the way can't be classified as roads because of the number of pot-holes every 10 to 15 feet. Our road will be classified as LANES anywhere else in the world and as such even greater care should be taken when trying to maneuver such terrain.

Now someone once told me that a "real" driver is one who could move in and out between cars driving on a highway. I simply looked at him and said "That's what I call a stupid fool!" I wouldn't even call such a person a driver, because making poor choices on the road, placing your life and others at risk is NOT what I call driving - far less "real" driving.

Now the challenge is always getting these messages across to the people who really need to have access to this information, because most of them probably don't have access to a computer and even if they did they wouldn't be using it for reading this blog.

So I guess this piece is for our individual entertainment and hope that one day the people on the roads of Trinidad and Tobago who think that they are "perfect" drivers, will one day learn how to drive.