Tuesday February 9th, 2010
- Last update:14 hours 37 min ago
Birthday grief...
Mom, tot killed in highway crash
Published: 31 Aug 2009
LEFT: A police officer views the damaged car in which Shamilla and Vionna Ramjit were killed during an accident along the Solomon Hochoy Highway.
RIGHT: Baby Vionna Ramjit, who lost her life in an vehicular accident on the Solomon Hochoy Highway yesterday. Photos: Rishi Ragoonath
Birthday celebrations for Vionna Ramjit, who would have turned one year today, had to be cancelled yesterday, when both daughter and mother were killed in a vehicular accident. The accident occurred just before midday along the Solomon Hochoy Highway in the vicinity of Gasparillo. Parents Shamilla, 35, Ivan, 40, left their Woodland home and headed to PriceSmart Supermarket, Chaguanas, to collect baby Vionna’s birthday cake.
Tragedy struck as the family was heading to Debe to meet relatives to go to the newly-opened water park in the area. Police said the mother was seated in the front passenger seat of a wagon driven by her husband, with baby Vionna in her arms, when the accident occurred. Police said her husband had just left the supermarket and was proceeding south on the highway when he lost control of his car and slammed into a TTEC pole. The car, police said, began spinning upon impact, pitching baby Vionna onto the embankment, where she died instantly. The mother died hours later at San Fernando General Hospital. Up to late yesterday, dad Ramjit was listed as being in a critical condition.
The couple also has a son Vion, ten. At the scene yesterday, baby Vionna’s birthday cake was seen squashed in the back seat of the car. Shamilla’s elderly dad Premchand was lost for words yesterday. Unable to control his emotions and overcome with grief, he said, “I lost my wife Kamla seven months ago, and now my daughter dead. I cannot take this. I have nothing to say.” Meanwhile, two other accidents occurred in the same area yesterday, one claiming the life of a retired police officer.
According to a police report, Winston Alexis, of Mahogany Street, was standing south along the highway, around 5.30 am, when a car heading in the opposite direction collided with him. Alexis, a father of ten, police said, was pitched in the air and his body dismembered. Hours later, police said Hemeoeath Ramkissoon was driving his car near to Gasparillo on the highway when his front tyre blew out, causing him to lose control and slam into a light pole. Ramkissoon escaped unharmed. Front seat passenger Larry Mahase, however, suffered a broken leg.
Very very sad. When are laws
Very very sad. When are laws going to be put in place for child safety seats?? Mr. Manning, this needs to be part of proper policing otherwise no one will be around in 2020 to gaze at the wonderful buildings in Port of Spain. People, please take safety into you own hands.
Mr Manning is to blame? I'm
Mr Manning is to blame? I'm no apologist for the goverment but lets take some personal responsibilty for our actions.
How long have we been hearing that seatbelts save lives??
The seat belt comes with your car. You don't have to go out and buy one. You need a law to tell you to buckle it??
We also have parents who pretend to love their children - or lets say they love them to DEATH, by having them sit on their laps on the front seat or standing in the midde of the front seats, or even stand on the front passenger seat. Tell the parents about it and they ready to cuss you upside down.
WHO WANT TO DIE OF STUPIDITY LET THEM DIE, JUST DON'T CRASH INTO SOME INNOCENT ONCOMING VEHICLE AND KILL THE OCCUPANTS.
My sincere condolences to
My sincere condolences to the bereaved relatives.
Lone crusader has stated very logical points. We are responsible for using the seat belts in our cars and for ensuring that our babies are buckled in their seats. Its really sad that in this year 2009 we still have parents acting with such negligence.
Manning, Jack and Panday
Manning, Jack and Panday should be left out of this one.
No one can bring back the lives of that innocent baby and mother. Not to mention the retired police fella whose body was hit so hard that he skied up and hit the top a streetlight!!!But...
You're right, 'lone crusader', personal responsibility together with proper controls on the highway are key to saving lives on the killing fields aka highways and roadways of TT.
Here is where Mr Manning comes in:
1. Bring the breathalyser;
2. Have 24/7 police patrols on the highways;
3. Strictly enforce the speed limits;
4. To do this, install radar at regular intervals on the highways and monitor them effectively;
5. Introduce the points system and suspend drivers' licences for 6 months, in the first instance; 1 year in the 2nd etc.
6. Bring a law to impound vehicles of owners and drivers who perpetually violate traffic laws;
7. Tack on heavy motor insurance costs to repeat traffic offenders.
8. Impound vehicles until fines are paid;
9. Have offenders attend mandatory driving safety classes and have them re certified for driving;
10. Pass a law to prevent any recourse to the courts by errant drivers who may want to stymie the punishment process.
11. Triple the fines and punishments for overtaking on the shoulder of the road and overtaking long lines of traffic (for truck, maxi and taxi drivers, make the punishment 10 times greater).
12. Suspend for 5 years the licence of drivers driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs.
Yes, personal responsibility, effective policing and swift punishment to errant drivers could go a long way in preventing accidents caused by these errant and dangerous drivers.
ajfyzabadbutlertown
I like these ideas! These
I like these ideas! These are the kinds of laws we need in Trinidad.
Very very sad. When are laws
Very very sad. When are laws going to be put in place for child safety seats?? Mr. Manning, this needs to be part of proper policing otherwise no one will be around in 2020 to gaze at the wonderful buildings in Port of Spain. People, please take safety into you own hands.
LAWS would have saved
LAWS would have saved baby?
How does someone lose control of a car? Could it be from speeding? The parents were hustling back from Pricesmart with a cake.
If you love your child, you need a law to tell you to put the child in a secured baby seat? Or to drive responsibly? The mother who was flung from the car was wearing a seatbelt?
If the father recovers he will have to answer those questions for the rest of his life.
And what of the man walking or standing on the side of the highway? He was stuck with such force his body hit the street light before breaking into several pieces. I'm just anxious to hear how this other driver also lost control of his vehicle.
Lone I will also like to
Lone I will also like to know what happened there.
"the mother was seated in the front passenger seat of a wagon driven by her husband, with baby Vionna in her arms, when the accident occurred." - My blood crawled when I first read this story. It's really sad. I don't think anything other than common sense would have saved this child. The parents really should have known better to buckle that child in a safety seat in the back seat, I really hope this will wake parents up but sadly I don't think so as a similar instance happened mere months ago..
However, Laws concerning children in cars really need to be more serious (more serious than tints?). I still see children parading in the back seats of cars and the parents will not buckle them in. You mean to tell me we have to save people from themselves now???
R C very very sad an this is
R C
very very sad
an this is coming from ivan younger brother
ok first thing trinidad needs to implement laws of a baby seat
the baby would of been alive if was in a baby seat
now i'm not going to blame/what was going on with my bother an how he lost control...
well trinidad has the worse people in the hospitals
my sister-in-law was alive she asked for her husband so she was well aware...
this is the krazyest part of the story how are u going to tell someone there baby died when they are going through shock/truama so she died of a heart attack or something
my bro got a bed in the hospital after 6 7 hours they had him sittin..2bad i wasn't there cuz i'm not easy.
in trinidad if u don't die in the accident there is a big possibility your going to die in the hospital due to those none pro workers who are lucky to have job a hospital isn't a playground
they lucky trinidad is corrupted..
r.i.p vionna ramjit u will be missed
r.i.p lolita ramjit u will be missed
Condolences on the loss to
Condolences on the loss to your family.
Your brother and nephew will need lots of support in this time of need and I am sure you will be there for them.
So your brother needed a law
So your brother needed a law to tell him to buy a car seat, that's the dumbest thing I've heard for the day. And I'm also sure that an autopsy would show your sister in law died from internal injuries as a result of also being thrown from the vehicle.
"2 bad I wasn't there cuz
"2 bad I wasn't there cuz I'm not easy", what would you have done, go home and bring a bed ?
"A hospital isn't a playground", and the highway is ? what if your brother had hit another car and the other people had suffered this tragedy instead of your brother and his family would you have said or even blogged on this site ????
I know that T&T is "corrupted" and everything else, but don't try to blame anyone for your family's mistakes....the driver had to be speeding, the parent holding the child was not buckled up, should not have been holding the child in the first place and the child was not in a car seat.
We sorry for them,
We sorry for them, Obeahwoman, but well said. Hope we can learn from this tragedy. But, you know what, gods forbid, we're likely to read and hear about the exact type of road accidents taking place long into the future in TT.
ajfyzabadbutlertown
Another moron "loses
Another moron "loses control" because the lampposts decided to cross the road. Nobody is to blame for the deaths but the parents of this child. How much crashes must occur before stupid people invest in a car seat to put their young children. Everyone wants to copycat the USA so why not copycat some of the sensible things they do like buy a car seat and wear seat belts. It baffles me why people hold young children on their laps and have them standing in the car when they very well know that any time control is lost they going straight out the window. Tell them about it and you getting cursed from A to Z. Even if you have to hold the child why not sit in the backseat. Why must laws be made for everything in this country, simple love for a child would be enough cause to buy a car seat and the worst thing is people will see and hear this story and continue with the moronic behaviour. The child, an innocent victim because of stupid parents.I make no apologies.
I'm afraid the laws won't
I'm afraid the laws won't make much of a different if people in TnT don't take corrective action themselves. Child care safety seats are one thing but how fast are the drivers going, I mean every day several people die in car accidents on the roads in TnT and when you see the photos the vehicles are unrecognizable, completely totaled. We do not execise good judgement when it comes to our speed, some of these deaths can be avoided if we would all just slow down. Very, very sad.
To all the highly
To all the highly opinionated "smarties"...when your time comes I'm sure you'll die a smart death!
To the ones with common courtesy, thanks for your respect as my family mourns this tragic loss.
Seatbelts...carseats...airbags? There are no holes in the lord's plan!
"The news slowly seeps in,
In this moment I could die,
I comprehend...I reason...
And still I ask "why?"
Paralysis takes over,
For words I now fail,
All that I am feeling,
These tears will tell the tale..."
Written by-Whiz(Joy Ramjit) 8/31/09
Rest in Peace babes!
Ivan-speedy and full recovery to ya! du bist nicht allein,ich bin immer hier...
Love your sis:-Joy!!!
There may be no holes in the
There may be no holes in the Lord's Plan, but he certainly did not anticipate such shortage of common sense. And don't forget: He did give you the freedom to decide between good and evil and stupid and common sense and we are his hands to execute his will. God does not plan to have a one year old die in a car crash. Period. That has nothing to do with being a smarty, i too am saddened by this accident and i feel for the brother of the little girl, who will probably never understand this and the husband who has to live with this for the rest of his life, but i also know that my family will not suffer this fate (seatbelt saved my life once, when a drunk driver hit me front on).
Here we go again trying to
Here we go again trying to rationalize a very bad situation which could have been avoided had the adult taken better precautions. Instead we try to bring some irrational biblical notion into the mix which is also very foolish. "Whizhic" please learn from this and don't make the same foolish mistake your relative made.
To all the highly
To all the highly opinionated "smarties"...when your time comes I'm sure you'll die a smart death!
To the ones with common courtesy, thanks for your respect as my family mourns this tragic loss.
Seatbelts...carseats...airbags? There are no holes in the lord's plan!
"The news slowly seeps in,
In this moment I could die,
I comprehend...I reason...
And still I ask "why?"
Paralysis takes over,
For words I now fail,
All that I am feeling,
These tears will tell the tale..."
Written by-Whiz(Joy Ramjit) 8/31/09
Rest in Peace babes!
Ivan-speedy and full recovery to ya! du bist nicht allein,ich bin immer hier...
Love your sis:-Joy!!!
Whizchic, I guess what you
Whizchic, I guess what you are trying to say is that the Lord's plan was to have your brother speed down the highway at breakneck speed, have his wife and baby thrown from the car and killed, so your brother made sure that the plan was carried out....well the Lord I know gave me common sense to know right from wrong and I am sure when the time comes I might not die a "smart" death but a sensible one, God's willing.
Interesting that a family
Interesting that a family member could log on and talk about the government passing a law for parents to buy car seats for their babies. Do you really think that if this law is passed that parents would follow it. Let me refresh your memory a bit.
There is a law that says you should not be speeding, there are traffic signs everywhere telling you what speed you should drive at; anybody obeying this law?
There is a law that says you shouldn't drink and drive, again there are signs put up everywhere encouraging this; anybody obeying this law?
There is a law that says you should wear your seatbelt (even if this isn't a law, cars come equiped with them, they are free). There are countless signs everywhere encouraging people to buckle up; anybody obeying this law?
How about no talking on cellphones while driving, or using the emergency shoulder to overtake especially durning traffic; anybody obeying any of these life saving common sense things.
So pray tell, what makes you think that if the government puts in another law about baby seats, that anybody would give a damn.
How many babies have died in accidents on the nations roads this year alone? How many of them were sitting on the laps of parents in the front seat with no seatbelt on? You would think that learned people like your brother and sister-in-law would have taken example from all the babies dying on the road this year and learned from the terrible experiences from others. Instead like nobody's business, they repeated exactly what all the other victims did in exactly the same way, and they results once again proved to be fatal, like every other time.
Be a man, and take responsiblity for your actions. The government has done exactly what it should have done, all you had to do was obey the laws, and use some common sense. Before there were baby seats, what did parents do? Not sit in the back seat with the baby?
So whats their excuse?
What do you need laws for to
What do you need laws for to then break them? Both of my children always travelled in an apropiate child seat, when i parttake in schoolactivities, which involve transport of kids the rule is: Adult in the passenger seat to control the baccanal in the back and not more persons than there are seatbelts. Period. The school aprechiates that, and so do the parents of the kids traveling with me. Don't need a law to use common sense, besides, who out there would abide to that anyways, isn't there a law for wearing your seatbelt?
A parent sitting in the
A parent sitting in the front seat holding a child usually crushes the child with his or her own body's weight, from the forward momentum.
This is why there are laws to have children secured in special seats, to protect them.
And it is advisable to have the mother/father (parent who is not driving) sit in the back with the child.
Jumbie's Watch
You can have a million laws,
You can have a million laws, but as long as those laws are not enforced (as is the common practice in T&T) this will continue to happen.
Just like people will continue to speed. The real sad part is that they kill people other than themselves when they drive in that reckless manner.
it's not just the
it's not just the enforcement, it's the acceptance that this law also applies to me, even when there is no police officer around. Nowhere in the world there is a constant control by police, but it is accepted that one has to abide to the law, so all can have a tolerable level of personal comfort and safety.
Two relatives calling for
Two relatives calling for laws but both are too shortsighted to see that common sense and personal safety were not taken into consideration. To hit two TTEC poles and cause such damage he had to be over the speed limit, for the wife to be thrown out her seat belt had to be off. Two laws already broken, so who is to say if there was indeed a child seat law that it would have been obeyed, I said it when the other accident involving a baby flying from a vehicle and I will say it again, back in 1985 when I was a baby I had my car seat and back then there were no child seat laws but my parents put safety first and back then cars were a lot stronger, could endure impact better and the roads were a lot safer.
Good points Ricky. I agree
Good points Ricky. I agree with you about the laws not being the final solution in this matter. I think most individuals would put their babies in the back seat (with child seat), well at least I hope so. However, I think you are a bit off on cars previously being stronger and the reason for the changes in design. The changes in car design where they crumple easily is to lengthen the collision time. That way the forces on individuals in an accident are reduced. So you are actually safer in a newer model car than one from the 80's. Even though the new model might look worse off after the accident..:)
P.S. If I am wrong on this one I would appreciate a reply.
True Nicholas, some chassis
True Nicholas, some chassis now being built have strong crumple zones to minimise damage in the inner cabin however some are not strong in the engine bay or trunk area, also the newer cabins serve as a protective cocoon but only when other safety features are used properly, so you are better protected if you wear your seat belt. Our box lancer still going strong even with a few accidents in the past, one major and our newer lancer wagon dents and dings at the slightest touches