Residents of Beausejour, Gros Islet, are calling for increased caution from drivers after a goods truck nearly overturned and struck a pedestrian in a recent incident on Beausejour Road.
The alarming moment, captured in a video now circulating online, shows the truck veering off the road.
The stretch had recently been resurfaced after sustaining damage over time and was visibly wet at the time of the incident.
The roadway has seen collisions – some fatal – over the years. In 2023, 50-year-old Gaspar Satoute lost his life following a crash along the same stretch.
Residents have also expressed the need for increased safety measures.
Jim Joseph, president of the Beausejour Community Group, acknowledged the desire for speed bumps but stressed the importance of driver responsibility.
“People have to take responsibility. Does every road have to have speed bumps for persons to drive cautiously?” he told St Lucia Times. “I know we need them but I am saying I know the police are doing a lot, but people need to start taking personal responsibility. That’s a residential area. Please drive with due care and attention.”
Joseph said he plans to conduct a site visit and assessment to determine where speed bumps should be strategically placed.
“I think we need to do an assessment. I certainly will do one to see where [the speed bumps] need to be strategically placed,” he said.
Gros Islet’s parliamentary representative, Kenson Casimir, also expressed the need for attitudinal changes among drivers and announced his intention to implement safety measures.
“First and foremost, I think we need to have a national conversation on speeding in Saint Lucia,” Casimir told St Lucia Times. “I don’t think necessarily that all roads you develop you need to put speed bumps. I think there’s a wider issue with our drivers and the way they operate.”
He added that without a shift in attitudes, infrastructure improvements may continue to be undermined.
“Unless we have some form of attitudinal change, we will continue to have those issues where a parliamentary rep will develop a particular area’s infrastructure and it will be misused,” Casimir said.
Addressing concerns specific to Beausejour, the minister emphasised the need for added safety measures in residential zones.
“But as it pertains to the Beausejour area, this is not a highway, in communities such as Beausejour where we have a number of residents and we have a school, the idea is definitely to put in those sleeping policemen to ensure that people use those roads in a safer manner,” he said.
Casimir acknowledged recent road upgrades in the area, noting that a second phase of construction will include the reinstallation of speed bumps near the Saint Lucia Sports Academy.
“As you would know the construction of that road started some time ago. We had to go through the phase of ensuring that we saw where the soft spots were before we put the final layer. We’ve put in the final layer and so those areas that had speed bumps in times past we will be ensuring that we put back those speed bumps especially in the school zones.”
He added that discussions with the Beausejour Community Group will continue to determine where speed bumps are most needed.
In response to the incident, the Royal Saint Lucia Police Force redirected the public to recent road safety guidance issued by the Department of Road Safety and Traffic Investigations (DRSTI).
“I am tasked with the responsibilities of putting measures in place, to ensure a safe environment for all road users across the island,” said Patrice Francis, an inspector with the DRSTI. “To achieve this goal, we need the support and cooperation of the general motoring public…”
The RSLPF said, under the leadership of Vern Garde, the department has added more personnel to strengthen enforcement and ensure a greater, more coordinated presence on Saint Lucia’s roadways.