We can sit here today and say what happened yesterday should not have happened. The road accident that has left a six-year-old boy in a coma should not have happened. But it did!
We talk about road safety every year. We roll out campaigns and discuss strategies to ensure our roads are safe. And we have been doing this for decades.
Yet, accidents continue to happen because we allow them.
The little boy was rushed to the hospital after he and three of his siblings were allegedly struck from behind by a vehicle on Princes Rd, Tacirua outside Suva, yesterday morning.
And the worst thing is that the driver is accused of continuing without stopping to help.
The siblings, three boys and a girl, were walking to Tacirua Primary School about 7.30am when they were allegedly hit by the vehicle.
A neighbour, Talei Vuetimaiwai, who witnessed the incident, said the vehicle appeared suddenly and struck the children from behind.
She said the youngest child, a Year One student, was thrown beneath a parked tow truck.
She alleged that the driver did not stop after hitting the children. A motorist travelling behind the vehicle stopped and helped transport the injured siblings to the hospital.
Now for the first of many issues that we must address here. Ms Vuetimaiwai said the parked tow truck was obstructing the area used by pedestrians because there are no footpaths on that section of the road.
This is serious. And the powers that be must do something about this. And while they are at it, can someone check out Kasanji St in Suva and see whether those trucks and trailers that usually park there on the side of the road at night near the Fletcher Rd junction are allowed to be there?
And while they are at it, please also check on those big trucks that are sometimes parked at night along Golf Link Rd, beside Asco Motors and the Fiji National University at Nabua, Suva. Is it okay to park there?
In saying this, we also raise the issue of parental guidance and supervision for young children.
Understandably, questions will be raised about the importance of road safety.
We refer to drivers in the first instance, then to road users, and then to parents and guardians.
We raise the issue of awareness and commitment to ensuring the safety of children on our roads. We also insist on drivers falling back on defensive driving, remaining alert, and using common sense when driving past very young children.
We challenge parents and guardians to prioritise and ensure the safety of their young children daily.
This incident must inch out vigilance. It must raise questions, and it must force appropriate action.
It must remind us that road safety is a daily responsibility.
A child should be able to go to school and return home safely.
It is up to all of us, from drivers, parents, pedestrians and the authorities, to make sure it is not too much to ask for.
