A High Court judge has fined a public service vehicle (PSV) operator $15 000 for the reckless driving that led to the death of a 17-year-old boy, describing the crash as “utterly avoidable”.
“This was pure recklessness on the roads that fell drastically below the standard that is expected of a driver of experience and a driver engaged in transporting citizens of this country to and fro on a daily basis,” said Justice Christopher Birch during the sentencing hearing of Tristan Karel Phillips.
Phillips, of Chance Hall, St Lucy, had admitted in the No. 5A Supreme Court to causing the death of Trae Sobers on November 20, 2016 by driving a ‘ZR’ route taxi on Mount Gay Road in St Lucy in a manner dangerous to the public.
Justice Birch said: “The fact that you drive a public service vehicle or a taxi carries with it certain concomitant responsibilities, a responsibility to take due care and attention in all circumstances on the road. There is no reason, based on the facts before me, that you should have been driving in this manner.”
The judge also took the opportunity to address the broader issue of misbehaviour among PSV operators on the island’s roads. Those in the industry must grasp the gravity of their duty to ensure passengers reach their destinations safely, he said.
The judge then invoked the “Midnight Assassin” crash of October 18, 1989, which has since become a shorthand reference point in public debate about reckless driving in the PSV industry. The route taxi known as “Midnight Assassin” was overtaking a minibus at high speed when it collided with a Transport Board bus on Black Rock Road. Three people were killed in what was one of the most horrific and deadly vehicular accidents in the country, both for the loss of life and the number of serious injuries.
Said the justice: “It is a source of constant wonderment that from ‘Midnight Assassin’ to now, there seems to be no form of understanding on the part of certain persons engaged in this industry as to the risks and dangers involved in dangerous driving that results in injury and death.
“When people pay their money and get on a public service vehicle, whether on or off duty, they have a reasonable expectation that they should be transported safely to their destinations.
“The various manoeuvres, by whatever nicknames we want to call them, on the roads, the madness that you see some operators employing without any reason other than ego, showing off or again pure recklessness must stop.”
Reflecting on the victim, the judge noted that 17-year-old Trae Sobers was at the start of a promising life with aspirations to become a mason. He lamented that Sobers boarded the vehicle expecting a future that can no longer be restored.
The sentence reached a nine-year starting point for the offence, which was reduced by a one-third discount for Phillips’ early guilty plea along with a one-year deduction for mitigating factors, leaving a custodial sentence of 1 947 days.
But the judge agreed with prosecutor Principal State Counsel Romario Straker and defence attorney Senior Counsel Arthur Holder for an alternative sentence of a fine and ordered Phillips to pay $5 000 of the $15 000 fine immediately, with the remaining balance to be settled in one year. If the funds are not paid, Phillips will serve the custodial sentence.
The case will be reviewed on November 19.
(JB)
