Question: You wrote a few times about the new Road Traffic law which is before the Senate and is intended to replace the 80-year-old legislation that is still in force. What are your views on the section of the new legislation that proposes to hold owners of motor vehicles responsible for the payment of traffic fines when drivers fail to do so?
– M.B., Kingston 8.
Answer: Many thanks for asking me to share my opinions on this issue. I have been following the passage of the legislation through parliament for over two years.
More recently, the proposed law has been the subject of a week-long protest action by taxi drivers. I am not surprised by the noise, misinformation and, to quote a certain US president, the fake news that is out there. Even this newspaper’s opinion editor decided to enter the debate last Thursday. His piece, falsely headlined, ‘Can’t ketch Quaco? Really?’ displayed ignorance and/or failure to conduct a minimum of research before expressing his opinion. Reasonable discussions must begin with an understanding of the objects and reasons for the bill; the reading of the 166-page document; and c) an awareness of the bloodbath that is occurring on our roads every day.
The bill says it is “in keeping with the international best practices for road safety (which was) “adapted for local conditions.”
Road safety will remain forever in the minds of the parents and five-year-old sister of eight-year-old Tiara and 10-year-old Tia, who lost their lives in a motor vehicle accident along the Rose Hall Highway last Tuesday.
The accident appears to have been avoidable. Speeding with five children. The parents of eight-year-old Latisha Williams – the best friend of the Thompson sisters who also died – and those of two other children who were passengers will suffer emotional and other scars for the rest of their lives. Debates about the new law or protest actions that ignore these facts should not be taken seriously.
When a motor vehicle owner gives permission to another person to drive his/her vehicle, our legal system assumes, even in the absence of a written document, the existence of agency, a legal term. An agency relationship presupposes that one person, the agent (in this case the driver), acts on behalf of and with the authority of the other person, the principal (in this case, the owner). Most non-lawyer motorists, including taxi-drivers, and the opinion editor, appear to be unfamiliar with the concept, even though there are many instances of it all around. For example I give an overseas visitor who is staying at my house permission to drive my car. The go-ahead is given by word of mouth. It is provided on the understanding that if he/she gets involved in a collision, for which he/she is at fault, my insurer will pay the third party’s claim. The insurer does not question my authority to grant permission. I am the owner/policyholder. If the matter ended up before a judge, the suit would be in my name and that of the visitor. This is an example of the law of agency in action.
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