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Trini Guide To Driving

Trinidadian Guide To Driving

* First and foremost pedestrians were around long before the car was ever invented, give them the deserving right of way
* Make sure you have a valid liscense for the vehicle you are driving
* Make sure you have insurance
* Make sure your vehicle is worthy of the road
* Wear your seat belt - it is life or death
* Do not seat more passengers in your vehicle than it was designed for
* Courtesy will get you far
* Be a defensive driver, no matter how good you can drive there is always some road hog out there to try and prove you wrong
* Your horn is not a means to an end, use it less
* You do not play your music louder than is necessary for ONLY those WITHIN your vehicle to hear it
* The shoulder is not an extra lane
* Do not use your mobile while driving
* Do not see the traffic light as a start up for the Indy 500
* The Priority Bus Route is ONLY for vehicles AUTHORIZED to use it

Feel free to continue the list...

Image from Wikimedia public domain.

Driving Guide Trini

What does this mean?

The traffic light is there to instil order, control and to give the motorists a chance to reach their destination. Green means go. Do not be inconsiderate and use this opportunity to answer your cell phone, check your wallet or comb your hair. Amber means proceed with caution. Red is not a signal to speed up and endanger other motorists on the road.

If you know a street is a one way street, do not drive in the wrong direction.

Do not park in a "No Parking" area.

If you are going to a mall or supermarket and you notice that there is a space for handicapped drivers, please respect this and leave it free for the handicap drivers.

If you see a person slowly driving into a parking space, do try to beat them to it. Be respectful. Look for another space.

Do not create your own car parking space. This is what creates more traffic and also, how accidents start.

If you know a street is very narrow, don't double park on it.

Please be respectful of car parking spaces assigned to a business. If there is a sign which says that the parking lot is reserved for employees, don't park there. Also, if you were not aware of this and a security guard approaches you and politely asks you to move your vehicle, please do so and do not be "wrong and strong!"

If you notice a pedestrian attempting to cross the road by ducking in between cars, don't scare him by revving up your car.

If a dog or an animal is attempting to cross the road, this is not a signal to press your accelerator and attempt to knock the poor creature down. Be kind to all animals.

Ensure that your car is working properly, especially your brakes. If you know that your headlights do not work, then don't go driving around in the dark.

Do not tail gate a motorist. He/she may have to stop suddenly and you may end up slamming into the motorist. Leave a space.

When the light is green, be considerate to other motorists by driving and not stopping to buy nuts or something to drink.

Do look around while driving. Pay attention to what's ahead of you.

Don't stop in the middle of the road to chat with a pedestrian, a motorist or use this opportunity to pick someone up. Pull aside, even if its on the shoulder.

Trini Guide To Driving Caribbean / Tobago & Trinidad

At the start of the race there is a light (similar to a traffic light) that goes from red to amber to green. On green the race cars go. I am saying that they do not need to see a public road traffic light in the same light where as it turns green they race off.

Good one, this must be one of the most ignored traffic violations in Trinidad. I have even seen security guards place cones out to block the space and people who are not disabled literally step out of their car and move it so they can park!

Driving Guide Trini

One thing to add to this list:

* During Christmas or any holiday that there are likely to have crazy drunks on the road - do not drive, stay home.

Just today a whole family died in a car accident and as I am writing this TV6 just reported yet another death on the highways of Trinidad.

Driving Guide Trini

From tomorrow if you are driving and caught holding or using a mobile phone while driving you will have to pay $1,500. If you fail to pay the fee then an additional $1,000 will be added.

Trini Guide To Driving

Car accidents that lead to death are becoming very prevalent now. There were four deaths between yesterday and today due to car accidents. One woman was dismembered totally earlier this week. There needs to be more street patrols and tougher measures on people who both drive drunk and drive w recklessly.

Trini Guide Driving

According to the current National Budget there will be a 50% increase on fines related to traffic offenses - that should be a good guide as to how to drive.

Trini Guide Driving Trinidad & Tobago / Caribbean

Name: George

Title: Dealing with illegal drivers

Comments: I am taking this opportunity to invite the attention of the public bearing in mind the statement made by a local senior politician that we have in this country 1,016 265 vehicles registered in this nation but only 654,985 registered license holders. It is not then hard to conclude that there is something drastically wrong and points to the fact that there must be thousands of citizens holding illegal driving licenses here. This is also considering the fact, that we have a population of 1.4 million citizens and the that many are children, people who can't drive, and elderly citizens who are too old to drive anyway. This all points to the conclusion that we have a tremendous amount of citizens who are driving with illegal driving licenses or have no licenses at all. The question here is, that if we have so many vehicles on the roads driven by illegal drivers why are the police not checking the authenticity of the driving license of all drivers in order to perhaps avoid speeding by those illegal drivers, thus reducing rate of deaths on the roads caused by inexperienced or not qualified drivers. The police need to concentrate more on the aspect of checking the licenses of all drivers than just searching for speeding traffic which then will not reflect in a drop in the rate of deaths on the roads as it is obvious that we have a multitude of illegal drivers using the roads here. Using large sums of public money in buying and using modern traffic speed guns and cameras, in the end, could prove useless unless the illegal holders of driving licences offenders are caught and stopped from driving on our roads. What is going on here why are these legal drivers allowed to continue driving for years on this small island without any checks of their right to do so, knowing the situation as revealed by the AG?. Moreover, why is a senior politician making a public statement that reflects a bad image of the nation instead of telling the public what the police are going to physically do about the general state of yet another aspect of lawlessness and chaos that exists here? Introducing legislation is just another law which will continue to be broken by the many lawless citizens here.as is seen in the UpToDate figures which is a past and present ongoing problem. I will just like to add that this problem must have been in existence for decades bearing in mind the apparently obviously large number of illegal holders of driving licences in this nation.