Illegal, dangerous and stupid

By Deidre Fanene 23 January 2017, 12:00AM

Police are looking for the owner of the taxi who allowed three young kids to be seated in the boot of a moving vehicle.

The photo was taken by a concerned member of the public, Jack Seumanutafa on Sunday evening in front of theFrankie Supermarket at Matautu.

Police Spokesperson Su’a Muliaga Tiumalu told the media on Friday during a weekly press conference that the police are currently looking for the owner of the taxi.

“The fact of the matter is that these kids should never be allowed to sit in the boot in the first place,” said Su’a.

“The boot of a car is for shopping and other heavy loads but not for the kids or anyone to be seated inside.

“The owner of this vehicle is most likely to be charged with permitting dangerous riding.”

Su’a said what if the taxi was moving and the boot closed accidently?

“These children would have been in a very dangerous situation,” he said.

“What this person did was that he/she put the lives of these children at risk and so we are currently looking for the person who is responsible for this.”

In an interview with Mr. Seumanutafa he said the reason why he took the photo was because he was surprised a person could do something like this.

“I was in my car waiting for a family member who went inside Frankie Supermarket to get some bread on Sunday evening,” he told the Sunday Samoan.

“The driver of this taxi was a female. She came out with all these kids and told them to get in the car and when the car was full she then told these three young kids to get in the boot.

“I wanted to take a photo of the driver butI reached for my phone late and the kids were the only ones that I was able to take their photo.”

Mr. Seumanutafa went on to say that he was gobsmacked of how this lady could do something like this.

“It was new to my eyes and I’m sure anyone who would’ve seen this would do the same thing,” he said.

“This is why accidents happen because adults are not being careful making decisions and besides who would be to blame if these kids fell out of the boot of this car?

“I just wonder what was doing through this lady’s mind to come up with such a stupid idea?

“She was the adult and of course the kids will listen to her so it was so surprise to me and I was thinking “only in Samoa” that someone will come up with such an idea.”

Lastly Mr. Seumanutafa advised the public to be very cautious with children.

“I am not a parent but I would never do such thing,” he said.

“Our decisions will backfireon us if we don’t think wisely.

“Accidents happen and most of the time it’s the drivers who we blame but we ought to know that adults and parents of these children are also to blame.

“It is their carelessness that puts the lives of the young ones at risk.”

By Deidre Fanene 23 January 2017, 12:00AM
Samoa Observer

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