At the stakeholders meeting held onย Thursday, September 17, 2020 with operators within the trucking industry, theย Royal Grenada Police Force reinforced Road Traffic regulations.
ACP Jessmon Prince took the opportunity to address a number of traffic issuesย relating directly to the trucking industry. They were:
- Passengers sitting in the trays of trucks, or on top of goods or materials inย the tray of these trucks is illegal. However, the Licensing Authorityย (Commissioner of Police) may grant permission subject to specificย conditions for the conveyance of passengers in a safe and appropriateย manner.
- Even when special permission is granted by the Licensing Authority, noย person is allowed to sit on loads (goods/material) in the trays of the trucks.ย Also carrying persons on top of heavy duty equipment is prohibited.
- Speeding:ย the stipulated speed limit for Trucks and motor omnibusesย within any Town is 20 m.p.h. elsewhere in the State 35 m.p.h.ย It wasย observed that some truckers are driving in ways which intimidate other roadย users. An appeal was made to all motorists to be considerate and roadย friendly.
- Spillage of aggregates and concrete mixture on the road surface and the needย for the Concrete Mixing companies and the truckers to clean up after suchย spillage.
- An appeal to stop the practice of overloading of trucks (trucks carrying moreย than their gross weight).
- The need for regular maintenance of trucks by qualified technicians to avoidย accidents and pollution.
- Proper location of lights on the trucks to indicate the width and height ofย vehicles.
- Escorts for trailers and tractors to be more road friendly. The distanceย between the escort vehicle and the trailer or tractor must be between 75 toย 100 yards to give adequate warning to road users.
ACP Prince also cautioned truck drivers to operate within traffic regulations toย safeguard other road users, themselves and physical infrastructure. He indicatedย that the RGPF will be strengthening enforcement of the regulations. A keyย weakness noted was the reluctance of persons to report details such as Vehicleย Registration Numbers which affects enforcement and accountability especially as itย relates to spillages.
The issue of scheduled operations of trucks along the Grenville Vale Road wasย raised along with giving way to other motorists during peak hours. The truckย operators noted the impact that scheduling will have on business operations andย waste collection. It was agreed that further discussion on the feasibility of thisย along that and other roads is required and will take place in the weeks ahead.
In closing, the RGPF and Ministry look forward to continued engagement with theย Trucking Industry on road traffic and transport issues.
