Posted: Tuesday, October 1, 2024. 4:17 pm CST.
By Aaron Humes: The latest death on a motorcycle occurred on Sunday in Santa Elena Town, at the entrance to the low-lying bridge crossing into San Ignacio.
There, 30-year-old Nicky Waight, an on-duty police officer, sustained fatal injuries when he lost control of his motorcycle on the bridge – he had been heading to work at the town police station.
Also injured was Jessica Escobar, who is stable in hospital after sustaining injuries to her arm and shoulder after falling off her motorcycle as she crossed the bridge and met Waight.
It is one of several incidents involving motorcycles recently in the Cayo District and the Police Department was prompted to issue fresh warnings on Monday.
Chester Williams, Commissioner of Police, says enforcement is not an issue – but the drivers are, as he saw firsthand just this past Sunday: “Enforcement is there, making sure people wear helmets, but somehow those motorcycle riders don’t get it. They just don’t get it. Yesterday evening I almost knocked one down. Pulled right out of a feeder road, right onto the highway without looking left or right. But for me, I always drive with the mindset that there are those reckless drivers so when I see a driver ahead of me, I always try my best to anticipate his or her movements. So I drive defensively.”
The Commissioner highlighted motorcycle drivers that appear to be ‘hogging’ the road and ignoring the safety lines: “I like to say to motorcycle riders, not just because you’re entitled to half of the road, you must ride at the middle of the road. Some of them, they ride smack middle of the road, like almost on that yellow line. Ride to the middle of your side of the road, would make more sense. Remember it’s your safety and bear in mind that we do have drivers who have no regard to motorcycle riders, which should not be. But you have to ride the motorcycle with that in mind.”
Williams pointed to speeding and overtaking issues as well, and noted that ‘right of way’ doesn’t mean a thing when vehicles collide: “And I always tell my driver, when I do use one, even if you have the right of way, stop, because when you crash and you dead, God won’t tell you, you had the right of way so I will send you back to earth. Having the right of way will not keep you longer on earth at all.”
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Posted: Tuesday, October 1, 2024. 4:17 pm CST. By Aaron Humes: The latest death on a motorcycle occurred on Sunday in Santa Elena Town, at the
The post Policeman’s motorcycle death prompts fresh warnings to motorcyclists appeared first on Belize News and Opinion on www.breakingbelizenews.com.
