Dear Editor,
Once again it is with distress and deep anger that I read of traffic fatalities caused by circumstances which are completely avoidable, to wit, the loss of 3 invaluable lives at Bee Hive on Monday (SN, April 29, 2008), on account of wandering cattle. Animals have been wantonly left to roam our streets for years now, and I have personal experience with this perpetual nuisance. Some 3 years ago I hit a cow on the Mahaica road, just a mile or two from the current accident scene, and luckily I was driving a 4 x 4. It was at night and by the time the stupid animal appear-ed in my headlights I hit it as I had no time to brake. This time the cow died and the vehicle’s front, sturdy as it was, became a mess. If I were in my car things might have been entirely different, both for the car and myself. And as we all know the owners of the animals cannot be found in the majority of cases, as happened with my accident.
The three persons in this instance were not so lucky, and although the truck reportedly had its bright lights on as is customary in this country, and speed might have been involved in the case of one or both vehicles, again the bottom line is that grazing farm animals which should in no way be on our roads, have once again plunged relatives and loved ones of the deceased into agony and grief. And at this point let me express my profound condolences to the grieving and anguished relatives of the accident victims.