A fatal traffic collision in central Trinidad has claimed the life of a 35-year-old Venezuelan migrant, reigniting longstanding debates over road safety regulations for migrant communities and barriers to legal driving privileges in Trinidad and Tobago.
Rusimine Riaz, a resident of Cunupia’s Mon Plaisir Road, was struck by a passenger vehicle while traveling home on an unregistered electric scooter in the early hours of Monday. The incident unfolded just after 2 a.m. near the Jerningham Road junction, as Riaz made her way back to her apartment following a completed overnight shift at a food cart located on Rodney Road in Endeavour.
Riaz sustained catastrophic injuries to her head and spinal column in the crash, and was rushed to the Eric Williams Medical Sciences Complex in Mt Hope for emergency care. Despite medical intervention, she succumbed to her injuries on Tuesday night.
Law enforcement officials confirmed that the driver of the white Nissan Wingroad that hit Riaz remained at the crash site rather than fleeing. When responding officers asked if he had been drinking alcohol prior to driving, the driver openly admitted to having consumed alcohol. A subsequent breathalyser test confirmed his blood alcohol content exceeded the country’s legal limit, and he was taken into custody at the scene immediately.
Police also highlighted a key detail of the incident: Riaz was operating an unlicensed electric scooter, a violation of local road traffic regulations. In the wake of the crash, officials reminded all road users of the requirement to comply with existing motor vehicle laws to avoid similar tragedies.
The tragedy has prompted a leading migrant advocacy organization to reissue a years-long call for policy change, while also urging migrant communities to prioritize legal compliance. Angie Ramnarine, head of the La Romaine Migrant Support (LARMS) — an organization that has supported Trinidad and Tobago’s migrant population since 2018 through migrant children education programming and employment support — spoke out about the crash Tuesday.
Ramnarine extended her deepest condolences to Riaz and her grieving family, noting that the tragedy was a preventable outcome that grew out of overlapping regulatory barriers and unmet need for accessible transportation. She explained that when the ban on unregistered scooter use was first announced, many migrants had already purchased the affordable vehicles, leaving them with few options other than to continue using them illegally or abandon the scooters entirely.
“I think when it was announced that they could not ride these electric scooters, a lot of people had bought and then had to either sell them over or chuck them in. So, just like so many of them drive without licences, I knew the same thing was going to happen with the scooters,” Ramnarine said in a telephone interview.
Ramnarine stressed that regardless of systemic barriers, all people using the country’s roads are required to adhere to local laws. “People have to obey the law as well. As they say, ignorance of the law is no excuse,” she added.
She acknowledged that for many low-income migrants, electric scooters fill a critical gap as the most affordable form of personal transportation, but emphasized that safety and legal compliance must remain top priorities. “It is an unfortunate situation where a migrant was negatively impacted, even as she was illegally using a scooter,” Ramnarine said.
Trinidad and Tobago’s Ministry of Transport and Civil Aviation already laid out the legal framework for electric scooter use in a March 17 public notice. The ministry confirmed that operating unregistered two-wheeled vehicles including electric scooters on public roads without a valid driver’s permit is a criminal offense under the country’s Motor Vehicles and Road Traffic Act. “Persons found in contravention of the relevant provisions of the Motor Vehicles and Road Traffic Act will be subject to enforcement action in accordance with the law,” the release stated.
Against this regulatory backdrop, Ramnarine renewed her organization’s appeal for the Trinidad and Tobago government to revise existing laws that bar most migrants from obtaining official driver’s licenses. LARMS has pushed for this policy change for years, she noted, arguing that expanding access to legal licensing would improve road safety for all users by bringing more migrant road users into compliance with the law.
“We have been advocating for that for some time now. We have made several calls for the Government to soften the laws for migrants to acquire a Trinidad and Tobago driver’s licence,” Ramnarine said.