A Diamond, East Bank Demerara man lost his life after the Canter truck he was travelling in slammed into a concrete fence at Number 4 Village, West Berbice yesterday morning.
Neil Rafeek
Ryan Ahmad Rafeek, 26, was pronounced dead on arrival at the Fort Wellington Hospital while his brother, Neil Rafeek, 34, who was driving, escaped with minor injuries. He was taken into custody at the Fort Wellington Police Station after receiving medical attention.
Police yesterday said the Canter, GLL 7891, was allegedly “travelling at a fast rate” along the roadway. Further, the police noted that it is alleged that the driver lost control of the vehicle, which ran off the road and struck a concrete fence. The driver of the vehicle is in police custody assisting with the investigations, the police added.
The accident occurred at around 7:30 am. Ryan was seated at the passenger side window while another man, Shivnarine Shivraj, 34, of Barr Street, Kitty, who was sitting in the middle, complained of pain to his head and shoulder. He was taken to Georgetown for tests to be carried out.
The mangled Canter truck after it crashed into Ernestine Johnson’s fence at No 4 Village, West Berbice yesterday morning.
The devastated Neil told Stabroek News that they were on their way to the Corentyne when he skidded on mud that was on the road and the tray of the truck started to sway. “I couldn’t do anything more than to hold onto the steering and let the vehicle go…. If not it woulda turn over,” he said.
Shivraj recalled that the road was wet and the driver applied brake and the vehicle started to skid. He said they left home around 6 am and the driver was going at about 60 Mph. However residents disputed that because of the extent of the damage to the fence.
Ernestine Johnson, a pensioner whose fence the truck slammed into, was the mother of Joshua Johnson, 32, a mason who was one of six persons who perished in the accident at Mahaica on November 21. She said when she heard the loud noise she started to scream hysterically for Joshua’s son, five-year-old, Jamal and was relieved after realising that he was safe.
Shivnarine Shivraj
She said though that she was still shaken after the accident. Her daughter, Monica Johnson, who came from Antigua for Joshua’s funeral, told this newspaper that she heard a relative, Metra shouting, “‘Look! Look! Look! Look wah going on.’ When we look we saw the truck coming towards the fence.” She said several persons ran to render assistance to the badly wounded Ryan, while the driver and Shivraj came out of the vehicle on their own.
Residents stopped a passing GuySuCo truck which took the men to the hospital. Monica said too that, “We are very distraught over this accident because only the other day our brother died in an accident.” Her sister-in-law said she “ran out of the bathroom screaming.” She said the accident brought back horrible memories of what happened to Joshua, emphasizing that he had built the fence.
Earlier this week, police announced that road fatalities this year have already surpassed last year’s tally, with 109 persons dying on the roadways to date compared to 104 for the same period last year. Speeding was cited as the major cause of fatal accidents.
This is terrible,those poor people reliving the night-mare over again. mys condolences to the grieving family,friends and relatives.We all have to pray for peace and understanding among the human race.
Thank you. That’s my mother’s fence. I am so heart broken all over again. I would like to thank everyone who give their condolences.
You do not drive at 60 mph on wet road. In fact, the speed limit is 40 mph. Did this driver attend driving classes?
You said it. Who drives at this speed on wet roads? Now just look at the result of this driver’s reckless behavior. May this young man’s soul rest in peace. Needless to say this could not have happened at a worse time.
Death of drivers who die while speeding excessively will be considered suicide.
Death of passenger who die while driver speed excessively will be considered murder/manslaughter.
Slow down…..arrive a few minutes later……but alive……are a few minutes worth your life????? Guyanese drivers….please….drive slower……don’t speed….
THE STATUS MY FRIEND AND THE BOAST. LAWLESSNESS RULE ON THE ROADS, THE ADDED PRESTIGE…. FOR POLICE AND DUM ASSS DRIVERS LIKE MY SELF. STATE OWNED VEHICLES HAVE IMMUNITY, SAME STATUS AS EMBASSAYS, SIMILAR TO THAT OF THE DEATH OF OUR DEAREST MINISTER WHICH SHOULD HAVE NEVER CAUSED… CHANGE,WE MUST HAVE THE DESIRE TO OR PAY THE PIPER, UNTIL.
Why didn’t he slow down when he knew the road was wet and there was mud?But NO he continued Speeding. He should be charged with causing death by dangerous driving.Jeez look at that truck.
when will people learn or understand the seriousneess of speeding..the road was wet or muddy then do the right thig drive with caution..take your time drivers no need to rush..its better to reach your destination late than never and cause damages and sufferings to yourself,,families,,and other road users..and cause unnessary expensenses…to your families and others innocent people…
When they are dead True Guyanese,,,I am fed up with this lawlessness…
guyana need some technology like the states,when u speed ova the traffic lights them, u get a ticket sent to u on ur # plates,but they need more traffic lights, and ppl need to slow the fuk down,the road wet and u still speedn,wat sense dat make,charge him for his supitness,2 many license buyn in guyana dats why
Guyanese will never learn
My condolences to the relatives and friends. What a sad sad thing indeed
The drivers in Guyana need to slow down
The responsibility for the ongoing year-go-year-come road carnage lies with the government.
Does the above statement excuse motorists for their own misuse of the roads and reckless (mainly speeding) driving behavior? Of course not.
Governments exist for one purpose – to do for the people what they cannot do for themselves. Motorists cannot regulate their own behavior – Govts have to do it. And, if motorists want to drive at highway speeds (above 45mph) in country where highways do not exist – and highways cannot be built overnight – then govt. has to deploy the tools of education, promulgate a new regime of laws, and vigorous enforcement.
When a nation of motorists have been driving at highway speeds (above 40 mph)for so long (20 years or more)- it becomes an ingrained, cultural habit. Now such cultural practices have to be re-engineered through re-education (mandatory driving classes every few years or licenses will not be renewed); and intensive monitoring of driving speeds (anyone caught exceeding speed limit of 45 mph will be fined – 2nd or third time their licenses will be suspended permanently).
A whole new regime of traffic laws must be put in place immediately.
(1) Taxis and mini-buses must be inspected once a year (In NYC they have to pass inspection every 4 months)
(2) Unsafe vehicles cannot be approved for the taxi trade (Minibuses should be disallowed as structurally and mechanically unsafe – they are killer vehicles)
(3) The tests before drivers’ licenses are approved have to be reconfigured – at least one month of training. New licensees must pass a one year probationary period of limited driving before permanent license can be granted.
Another major problem which no one talks about: This is a nation of people who have made no distinction between highways and village or county roads. Every driver in this country has been using village roads as highways, meaning they are driving at highway speeds. The govt. itself does not know the difference between a highway and a village road. (The govt. has never articulated any distinction – and their current laws do not reflect any such distinction)
On all roadways throughout the United States that pass through residential areas, the speed limit is 35-45 mph. In fact there is no country in the world – except a few third world countries like Guyana – where people drive at 65 mph and above on village roads.
And, this is the main reason for the road carnage.
THERE IS NO HIGHWAY IN GUYANA – and therefore the maximum speed limit in the country should be set at 45 mph (with exceptions for non-residential stretches of roadways at 55 mph)- and this law should be vigorously enforced.
I join the Guyanese nation in mourning the terrible loss of lives in the mini-bus that crashed 3-weeks ago headlong into the back of a truck (half-a-dozen lives lost, including a 23-year-old UG student); Minister of Education Desiree Fox, another road crash-up that has all the tell-tale signs of speeding; and in the above story in which one person died – a Canter truck driving at highway speeds on what is a village road – wet and full of slippery mud.
MP, when I attended driving classes in 1987 we were told that the only highway in Guyana is the Soesdyke-Linden Highway and that the speed limit there is 60 mph. All others are just roads and the speed limit on them is 40 mph.