A series of crashes and collisions early Sunday morning have raised the issue of driving whilst intoxicated or tired after a night of partying and socialising.
At least three incidents have been recorded Sunday, two of which involved crashes.
In one of the incidents which occurred in Balata, the driver of a white Suzuki, registration PG1733 is said to have fallen asleep at the wheel, and subsequently veered into a vending hut.
It is believed that the driver was the sole occupant of the vehicle, and the shop was unoccupied at the time of the crash.
Onlookers reported that the driver was seemingly in a stable condition at the scene, but was taken to the hospital via ambulance
Although the details of the driver’s activities prior to the incident are unknown, the cause of said incident has brought to light an ongoing issue of drivers who get behind the wheel whilst tired/exhausted.
With much emphasis being placed on raising awareness on the prevention of driving whilst intoxicated, the same amount of emphasis is not being made on the equally dangerous matters of driving whilst drugged or tired.
Drivers are reminded that if they are too tired to drive safely, they are advised to either get a designated driver to drive them to their destination, don’t get behind the wheel and get some sleep where they are (in examples of residential social gatherings or work), or if they feel too tired to function properly whilst driving, pull over to a safe spot along the side of the road and get some sleep.
The other crash occurred at Top Of The Hill where a four door sedan crashed into a pole.
Fire personnel had to be dispatched for this incident, and currently, The VOICE has no information on the number of occupants or their condition.
The third incident occurred in Corinth; however, details of this incident are yet to reach The VOICE Team.
According to eyewitnesses, the incidents have resulted in backed up traffic both north and south bound along the Gros Islet Highway.
“ACCIDENTS”!! Not “Incidents” … as a writer, you should know there is a difference between these two words. You have a dictionary (on your computer) look up the meanings of the words. The editor and/or proof reader should not allow this snafu to pass for printing!! Makes the writer of the article look foolish and none the wiser!! Sad!!
Incident can refer to any event – big or small, good or bad, intentional or unintentional. A bank robbery, a funny or controversial situation, an argument between celebrities, etc. – all can be described as incidents.
An accident is a bad event caused by error or by chance. Accidents are always unintentional, and they usually result in some damage or injury. A car crash is one example of an accident. If some equipment malfunctions in a factory and injures the workers, that is also an accident. Examples of very minor accidents are when you step on someone’s foot or spill your coffee on someone else. You didn’t want or plan to do it.
All accidents can ALSO be described as incidents – but NOT all incidents are accidents.
If a drunk driver runs his car into a group of people, that is an accident (he did not intend to do it; it was caused by alcohol and chance). It could also be described as an incident (“The incident occurred on Main Street at around 2:30 AM”).
Wise ass!
Accident and incident are two different words that are often confused and used interchangeably, however, these words are different from each other and have different implications.