Turama-Paying the price in more ways than one
The roads are a very dangerous place

The deep pit of night.
A phone ringing in a darkened house.
“Hello.”
“There’s been an accident . . .”
There are tears. There is a funeral. There is finger-pointing and blame-laying. But mostly there is apathy.
Death rides the Ara Tapu, bareheaded, laughing. Its name is Reckless. Its name is Alcohol. Its name is Speed. But mostly its name is Ignorance.
And everywhere Death stops, it leaves behind sorrow. It leaves behind shattered dreams and broken families.
It leaves behind one less Cook Islander.
You could not concoct a deadlier combination than that of alcohol, speed and a blatant disregard for basic road safety, be it helmets or seatbelts. It exists here and it is killing us. That is the reality evident in every smear of blood across the tar seal, every coffin in the back of a black sedan. Waving the tattered flag of freedom of choice only means the carnage will continue unabated.
Fortunately, there are some on the island who have grown weary of burying their loved ones, their friends. These are their voices. These are their concerns. These are their visions.
The Police
Police Commissioner Maara Tetava says the police alone can’t stop the epidemic of drink driving.
“We are doing the best we can within the resources that we have,” he says. “I know there are some people out there who would say that’s the job of the police to stop drink driving. I see it another way. I see it as a total team effort, not only from the police but also from members of the community.
“The community needs to jump on the bandwagon and work with us.”
Tetava says a lack of budget means the police have to work smarter. This involves a community relations blitz aimed at young drivers and using intelligence gathering to target trouble spots, especially watering holes that are doing a particularly robust business.
“We are there, on the spot, to try to prevent or stop crashes from happening at these locations,” he says.
Reasonable consumption of alcohol is not the problem, according to Tetava.
“It’s those people who consume more than they should be consuming and then hopping on their vehicles – they are the concern for us,” he says.
Tetava is saddened by how a fatal accident is often the catalyst needed to force the message home.
“It’s an all-year-round problem but it takes the death of a good person for a lot of our people to sit up and say, hey, enough is enough,” he says. We’ve been pushing the message for so long but still, week in and week out, we catch drunks. People are not listening.”
That fact doesn’t discourage Tetava; it only makes him more determined to keep hammering home the dangers of mixing alcohol and petrol with asphalt.
“I’m very keen for this to remain a hot topic because it’s important,” he says. “Our people are dying on the roads and we, as a community, have to do something about it.”
The Liquor Licensing Board
If the board has its way, there will be a serious culling of liquor licences come the end of March.
There are currently 150 licences on Rarotonga and Police Superintendant Taivero Isamaela, the chairman of the board, says that’s too many for the size of the island.
All licences are up for renewal by the end of the month and Isamaela would like to see that number reduced to 100, even if that means some business people will be left crying in their beer.
“If we can save lives by reducing the number of licences, then we will do that,” he says. “Life is more important than anything else.”
While the Sale of Liquor Act is currently under review, with an eye to closing any loopholes, current regulations already govern such violations as fighting, noise complaints, after-sales of liquor, and allowing obviously inebriated patrons to continue drinking on the premises.
The board has not issued any new liquor licences since October 2009, as one way to help combat drinking driving and other problems related to the abuse of liquor.
“We are very concerned about what is happening,” says Isamaela. “Not only with alcohol being consumed at nightclubs or hotels, or places like that, but also at parties. As a result of that, there have been more domestic disputes and most of these are alcohol-related.
“So we are concerned about the major impact and effect of liquor on our community here in the Cook Islands.”
The Bar Owners
Responsible drinking often starts with responsible serving, and the bar owners we talked to are serious about being conscientious when it comes to providing alcohol to their patrons.
“We are responsible licence holders,” says Tarita Hutchinson, who owns Club Bana and the Whatever! Bar & Grill.
“We ensure we have a manager on the premises at all times,” she says, “and our managers have strict protocols that they need to follow in terms of dealing with people and how much alcohol they can consume on the premises.”
Sitting with Komera Dean and Tina King– the managers of, respectively, Club Bana and Whatever! – Hutchinson is proud to say, to date, no patron from either of her establishments has had an accident after leaving the premises.
“That’s a record we want to maintain,” she says. “To do that, our managers need to be vigilant with making sure people are having fun, but fun in a safe and responsible manner.”
Hutchinson acknowledges there is a drinking culture, especially with the island’s youth.
“It can be quite harmful,” she says. “But we don’t actively promote our business to the youth.”
Drunk driving was enough of a problem to prompt Hutchinson to buy a bus to provide transport to anyone who wants to frequent one of her properties on a Friday night.
“We use it mainly for visitors,” she says. “But it is available to all our patrons, so they can come out to town and enjoy themselves.”
Scott Arlander, who owns the Rehab Bar, says it’s important to keep a lid on binge and over-drinking.
“We don’t want any negative things happening that will affect people’s night out, or people’s lives, especially,” he says.
From offering a range of non-alcoholic beverages to strict screening of underage patrons, Arlander says the Rehab works hard at making people feel safe and secure while they’re having a good time.
“Drinking is a big part of what people do to enjoy themselves on the weekend; it’s always been like that,” he says. “But I think, these days, people are a little more aware and we just have to work hard to increase that awareness of (drinking) safely.”
The Helmet Retailer
It’s no secret that, when Government bowed to the whims of strident protestors and flagged the mandatory helmet law at the last minute, Motor Centre was dealt a financial blow. Having a container filled with unsold merchandise – in this case, helmets – will do that to a business.
But general manager Diane McFarlane says the company’s concern extends far beyond any monetary hiccups.
“Motor Centre has always been pro-helmets and pro-safety on the roads,” she says. “I guess people don’t like to change and they’ll have their freedom taken away from them, they feel, if they have to wear a helmet.
“But what about our heads and our safety? Our heads are so soft that it doesn’t take much for a bit of a knock.”
McFarlane understands it’s human nature for some people to speed and drive under the influence of alcohol.
“However, if we bring in a compulsory helmet law, the people who do have accidents will be better protected,” she says. “The accidents will still happen but the consequences will not be anywhere near as bad.”
The Vehicle Rental Company
Donal Campbell spends a lot of time thinking about road safety. As the sales marketing manager for Raro Cars, he needs to be confidant the company’s vehicles, and those who hire them, are going to come back in one piece.
All rental bikes come with the offer of a free helmet, says Campbell, and visitors are cautioned that drink driving is against the law. Since Rarotonga is one of the last pockets of resistance to a helmet law, most tourists arrive already understanding the wisdom behind protective head gear.
It’s the locals who need convincing, and Campbell has come up with an idea he thinks will help change people’s minds: a gradual rollout of a mandatory helmet law.
“Everyone seems to centre around the fact that these accidents predominantly happen at night,” he says. “Given the past attempts by Government to try to make it compulsory for everyone to wear helmets and the general negative response by the public, why not ease it in by making everybody wear helmets at night? Say, from dusk to dawn.”
That way, Campbell says, the public’s mindset would gradually change over a period of time until, after, say, six or 12 months, Government could make helmets mandatory every time you ride a bike.
“(That way) you’re not hammering the message home,” says Campbell. “You’re easing it into society so people become OK with the idea. And then, if their lifestyle dictates that they need to be carrying a helmet around, they might as well put it on their head.”
The Power Company
There is a hidden price to the very visible damage caused by accidents.
If you collide with a power pole, Te Aponga Uira will bill you to recoup the cost of repairs.
“The cost varies, depending on what’s being held up by the pole, of between $2000 and $5000,” says company CEO Apii Timoti. “The cost is not just the pole itself. When the line falls down, we have to change the connections to the cables, because the connections get shifted.”
On average, around five of the power company’s 5000 poles are hit each year, which is why Te Aponga Uira keeps a close eye on its property.
“Where we think a pole is too close to the edge of the road, we’ll try to move it to the side,” he says. “But we can only go so far. Our evidence shows that the poles that are getting knocked over are the ones away from the edge of the road.”
While all new installations are now placed underground, the cost of eliminating existing poles would be prohibitive – between $4000 and $5000 per 50 metres.
For the time being, Timoti urges drivers to take care on the roads or be prepared to pay the price, in more ways than one.
“People shouldn’t drink and drive in the first place, obviously” he says. “But what you’re going to pay for is the power pole on top of your fines and losing your licence and, possibly, somebody’s life.”
The Road Safety Council
Colin Burn knows his detractors hate it when he trots out the statistics, but the one thing numbers don’t do is lie.
So when Burn, chairman of the Road Safety Council, points to 12 deaths on the road in the past 12 months, only a fool would argue when he says, “For me, that’s 12 too many.”
The council, initiated three years ago by Rotary and the Chamber of Commerce, works closely with the police, Government and the public to raise awareness about keeping safe on the roads.
The Dial-a-Driver programme is one example of how the council is attempting to stem the number of accidents involving drinking.
“We’ve got to stop this situation where people drink and drink and drink, and then they fall over. And then they drive home,” Burn says. “That’s not good.”
Is a drinking culture to blame for a flouting of common sense, from drink driving to the refusal to implement the mandatory wearing of helmets and seatbelts?
“We’re a very relaxed culture, unfortunately,” says Burn. “We believe we can do lots of things here that they can’t do anywhere else in the world. Unfortunately, that’s not true. The roads are a very dangerous place.”
Burn said he is encouraged by the fact the council’s messages appear to be registering but says even more people need to listen and pay attention.
“We are not invincible,” he says. “We cannot bury our heads in the sand and say, there’s no problem here. Because there is.”

 

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