BRIDGETOWN, Barbados, CMC – Amplified music, a staple of everyday commuting on privately owned minibuses and route-taxis, is to be reduced from a bang to a whimper in the first major overhaul of the country’s road traffic laws in 25 years.
Under a revised Road Traffic Act, amplifiers, equalisers, compact disc players, or any other means for playing recorded music on public service vehicles (PSVs) are to be banned, leaving only the standard radio playing music no louder than a regular mobile phone’s ringtone, said Minister of Public Works and Transport, Gline Clarke, in the House of Assembly Wednesday.
The bus operators will be allowed to use two-way radios, Clarke told Parliament during debate on the Road Traffic (Amendment) Bill, 2006, as he unveiled a package of regulations and 60 new offences to update the 1981 Road Traffic Act.
He said in addition to public service transportation, the legislation was also aimed at bringing order to all categories of vehicles operating on the country’s roads. “We now have over 116 000 vehicles on our streets. The government does not intend to curb the importation of vehicles, [but] at the same time we have to protect persons in the street,” Clarke told the House.
He said there would be 60 “new” offences for which a driver could receive a notice and be subject to a fine. They include failure to register a vehicle, operating one without number plates, parking in areas reserved for the disabled, driving without one’s licence, carrying unsecured loads, soliciting passengers, over-charging for hire, playing loud music, spilling oil on the road and permitting sparks and excessive smoke. The amendment will also prohibit drivers from talking on cell phones while driving.
The opposition Democratic Labour Party was critical of the introduction of the legislation, with its MP Denis Kellman saying the penalties being proposed in the legislation were “regressive” and too harsh. “Rather than trying to increase fines and lock up people government must first concentrate on solving the traffic woes,” he said.