Scooter riders to learn about safety at youth symposium
An upcoming youth symposium by Related by Humanity, in observance of Universal Human Rights Day, has included a scooter show which aims to educate youth riders about observing the rules of the road and being responsible for their own safety and that of others.
The symposium will be held on December 10, 2011 at the Community Centre in Purcell said Director of Related by Humanity Sandra Phillip-Hodge, who was a guest on the radio programme Umoja aired November 24, 2011.
“We want to respect them with their bikes, respect their rights to choose whatever mode of transportation they want or whatever they want to engage in but they also need to know that they have a responsibility to not violate any of the laws that are in existence,” said Phillip-Hodge.
It was also said that safety would be highlighted as well as some of the common traffic offences and risks committed by scooter riders, including running a red light, weaving through traffic in a reckless manner and racing.
According to Kadeem Farara, who would be one of the presenters at the symposium and who is a scooter mechanic and sells and rents scooters in Lower Estate, most of the young men do not know and practice safety on the road “so we just want them to know how dangerous it is and to be safe and how to be careful and not being nuisances to society”.
Farara said he tries his best to tell scooter riders to be careful on the roads, noting that riding a scooter is fun and it is also economical as it only costs about $8 to fill a scooter’s tank.
“A lot of the accidents happening around the area people say it’s reckless driving but it’s just that the person who is riding is not keeping an eye out to what is going on around them. They are being a bit careless and we need to show them how to not be careless.”
Meanwhile, host of the show Cromwell Smith spoke about the noise nuisance created by riders sometimes in the wee hours of the morning and noted that the scooters are even louder because the riders adjust the mufflers on them.
He also said that many of the scooter riders ride at a scary rate of speed and don’t obey the traffic rules and wanted to know if the young men didn’t know they were creating a negative image for themselves in the community.
Farara explained that the riders alter their mufflers to make their scooters more powerful especially for the purpose of climbing hills. He added that the 125 cc scooters, which is the limit allowed in the Territory, do not have the “power to climb hillsides” hence the muffler alterations.
“The law here limits it to 125 cc and that is not enough power,” claimed Farara.
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