Road safety

THE EDITOR: May I kindly ask your newspaper to print this petition to all taxi and especially maxi drivers to instruct their passengers when they have disembarked to cross the road from the back of the vehicle instead of the front.

Too many times I have seen passengers crossing from the front of the maxi which is blind to oncoming vehicles which are unaware of passengers wanting to cross and too many times I myself have almost struck someone, especially a young innocent person, just suddenly darting out. In fact, crossing from the front of a vehicle is always a dangerous practice since the crosser could be vulnerable to an accident from the very vehicle itself.

If the passengers would cross the road from the back of the maxi, then it is easy for oncoming traffic to be aware of the situation and to proceed carefully having seen that persons are wanting to cross the road..

I am not sure whether this can be instituted as part of our traffic laws but this may not be necessary if our taxi drivers and all others would make this a national safety rule.

If something is right for us and our safety then we really do not need laws __ we just go ahead and do what is right. I call this national emphasis which all should participate without having to face unnecessary penalties.

Peter S Moralles via e-mail