There were eight road fatalities over the Christmas weekend, two of which caused by accidents in which vehicles crossed the median and crashed into traffic in the opposite lane. In one crash five people died; two were killed in the other accident.
"We got the approval to install the cable. The order has gone out for the cables and I was given the assurance that by the end of January it will be installed," he said.
Warner noted that when vehicles cross over to opposing lanes of traffic, the risk of catastrophic injuries is very high, "since vehicles are often striking head-on and drivers in the opposing lanes have little or no warning that a vehicle is coming from such an unexpected direction...The time has come for something to be done to reduce the number of fatalities on the nation's roads."
However the minister said the cables alone won't stop the carnage of the nation's roads. He said it is important for drivers to obey the existing laws and for police to ensure that the laws are enforced.
Warner said he plans to ask for an increase in police patrols on the highways. "We need to go back to basics and use highway patrols and speed traps," Warner told the Trinidad Express.
In August, Warner announced his ministry's plan to install Cable High Tension Barrier Systems along the medians of the Solomon Hochoy and Uriah Butler Highways, as well as a 42-kilometer stretch from Golconda in South Trinidad to the Caroni bridge.
Read the story: Cable barriers for T&T highways to prevent cross-median crashes
The project, which will be handled by the Traffic Management Branch of the ministry's traffic division, will cost $21 million.
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